It's later now
by amy little shepherdess
Summary: Amen fanfic, starting from their scene in the finale and evolving till later
1. Chapter 1

**A/N : So this just started as something I wanted to write about the deleted kiss scene, but then everyone on tumblr was super amazing and they urged me to write more. This first part is short, but the whole thing turned out super long, so idk, i just thought I would upload it here as well. So I hope people who see it here enjoy! Reviews are greatly appreciated xx**

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When he had asked if she was alright, she told him about the voice mail, technically asking for his help. It was because she knew he cared, not asking to be polite or is just curious. He sat next to her, cautiously leaving space between them.

He pressed the play button, again, trying to not touch her hands. He was about to get up to give her privacy. But she didn't want privacy, she wanted him, if she was going to _feel_ like he told her, she wanted to with him, as if she couldn't get through without him anymore. She wordlessly grabbed his hand next to her, telling him to stay.

"You okay?" he asks, smiling slightly, knowing perfectly well what her answer will be, but waiting for her to look at him, so that he could tell for sure

"Yeah," She said, sniffling the last of her sobs, she smiled, finally content with the closure she had gotten. She looked at her hand on his, and then looked up again, "Yeah, I am."

He looked at her affectionately, he gave her an endearing smile, as the look in her eyes assured him that she was finally really alright.

"I'm okay now, and you're here," She let go of his hand so that she moved hers to caress his face. He tilted his head, staring at her eyes, wanting her to be the one to make the next move this time.

The short distance between them now seemed like torturing miles. Her hand slid down to his chest for support, as she leaned her whole body toward him, she laid her other hand across his cheek and neck and brought him closer to kiss him.

He held pressed his hands gently against her back as he kissed back. It was a compassionate longing kiss, they both poured in all their unspoken emotions toward each other.

She had almost let herself forgot how good it was. Kissing him was different, it wasn't the same with any of the past relationships, it was just more.. _right_.

As they lingered on the kiss before breaking it off, both of them smiled into the few last quick tender kisses. She kept her eyes closed for a few seconds after the kiss. She chuckled as she opened them, her hands now mildly stroking his neck and shoulders. "I want _this_ to work too," it was almost a whisper.

He grinned, knowing exactly what she was referring to, he nodded vaguely and sighed, "Good to know, because I do too."

He got up reluctantly and held out his hand to her, having faith that they will figure it out, but tonight, they should just unwind. She took his hand and walked with him outside the room, and then she stopped in hesitation. He stopped and jerked so that he stood opposite her, "You go, I need to find Meredith," she forced a sweet smile.

He smiled back dearly. He leaned in and landed a charming peck on her cheek, letting her know he'll be ready for her.


	2. Chapter 2

That night, both Amelia and Owen barely got any sleep. They couldn't stop thinking about their interaction, however; it wasn't exactly with the same attitude. While Owen couldn't sleep because of gaiety and excitement, Amelia on the other hand, was replaying it over and over again in her head, over analyzing every move and every thought.

She was mad at herself, how could she do it? She finally started to glue herself back together and starting to get things back to normal at work again. Although, who is she lying to? It could never be 'normal' again with Owen. He was just there, again, pulling her through another tough moment. She didn't know if she loved or hated him for that, it was a thin line between the two anyway.

Owen was eagerly searching for her, first thing after finishing a routine morning procedure. He found her catching on some post ops in the nurse station in the lobby. His mouth curled to a big smile at the glance of her, he leaned over the counter placing two cups of coffee on it, "Good morning, coffee?"

Amelia opened her mouth, gasping lightly, trying to act a little surprised by his approach. She chuckled, remembering how he also brought her coffee after the first time they kissed. She didn't want to make this time as awkward.

Owen could read exactly what she was thinking about, and reminisced about it himself, "What, you don't like this coffee?"

She chuckled, taking the cup and sipping from it, "No, I like your coffee, I _need_ your coffee," _Damn it, absolutely no game,_ she thought to herself, she didn't mean for it to sound like an innuendo.

Owen giggled softly, "Couldn't sleep last night too?" He gazed at her, letting her know he was thinking about her as well.

She was trying to handle the situation, go back to her 'strict' no workplace dating policy, but if he was going to keep looking at her that way, with his green blue eyes, she wasn't sure how long she could refrain from pushing herself against him in front of the whole hospital.

At that very moment, both their pagers buzzed loudly. She wasn't sure whether she should be thankful or enraged. She closed her eyes and sighed, then checked the code, it was 911, she had to get up.

"Unbelievable," Owen said as he checked his pager and sighed sourly, he was being paged to the ER, he was clearly exasperated, no mixed feelings. She wished she was so sure like he was.

"I got to go, but we will talk and continue this later," she said reassuringly as she got up, "thanks, for the coffee!" she brushed against his arm as she hurried toward her patient, that was enough physical contact to distract her _. Stay focused, stay calm, just run and save your patient right now_. She told herself, trying to put him in the back of her mind for a while.

…

Owen walked into a dark on call room after a long day, a young boy was bullied and beat up by a bunch of bigger guys who thought they were cooler and could get away with anything. It was always hard to deal with such cases without getting emotionally attached, so the devastation when the boy passed away was tremendous.

He switched on the lights, and that's when Amelia jerked out of the bed quickly, and stood up, attempting pointlessly to straighten her scrub shirt. She put her hands on her back, near her hips, awkwardly. "Um, I should go, you must be very tired."

"No, it's okay, you stay," he paused, "how did your surgery go?" he started some small talk, though genuinely wanting to check up and see how tired she was.

"It was.. long. His aneurysm burst and he kept getting brain bleeds, he's hanging on for now," she forced a sad nervous smile, not wanting to have all the attention on her, "I heard about your patient, I'm so sorry, did they catch the bullies?"

"A gang is what they are," Owen breathed deeply, removing the scrub cap he still had on, "the police identified them. But they're still looking."

She didn't know what to say, but she tried nonetheless, "Uhh, listen, we're both tired, we don't have to do this, if.. you don't want to now, I get it, it's fine." She thought she could at least remove some of the pressure.

Owen tiredly grinned a coy grin, "I've kind of been looking forward to this, all day." He thought he would finally confess his feelings to her, being with her after all this angst would make him forget how weary this day had made him. "Unless, you're.. too exhausted," he half asked, remembering that she might want to just rest instead.

She smiled sheepishly, trying to jump over the awkwardness and small talk and start to figure whatever this was. "I guess we both could talk now then," she breathed in deeply, "Soo um-" she looked at him, trying to let him talk first, she had no idea how to start this.

Owen cut her off and decided to just blurt it out, "I love you." Amelia's eyes widened, she expected to be asked to date or whatever, but this was the feeling she was trying to burry and ignore, she didn't see it coming.

Owen grinned thinking about it, "I know it's crazy, and a little scary, and maybe our relationship or whatever we have has been unconventional, but there's just this thing every time… and I know this is what love is, I thought I knew it before, but this is different, it's.. it's just.. Amelia I don't know how else to say it, I just, I love you!" he chuckled again as he relished the words coming out of his mouth, "I love you, I am in love with you, and.. and-" he was stumbling on his words now, he wanted to relay his feelings to her but it seemed like there were no words which could do that, like he needed a new word to be invented to describe the passion and love he had for Amelia.

"Stop," she first whispered. "Stop, stop, just stop talking!" she said louder, she didn't mean for it to come out as a harsh snap. Owen was confused, he was so sure that this time she shared his feelings, why would she lead him on and kiss him like she did last night, if she didn't love him back?

Amelia, noticing how startled and a on the edge of heartbreak Owen was, tried to soften her voice and continue, "I'm sorry, I just.. After everything, you and I, and every interaction we have here, I.. I gave myself a rule. A strict no coworkers policy. I promised myself I wouldn't let it happen, it's not the same working with someone who has seen all these parts of you."

She paused, looking up to focus on Owen's eyes and see how he was reacting so far, He had a frown on his face that ripped Amelia's heart, she gave up, she couldn't do this to him, she continued with a slight tone of anger in her voice, "but then you come around, after leaving for freaking war, and you do this thing with making me have to feel and deal with all these emotions now! And it's too hard, Owen! I used to be fine before, but now I cannot do anything! I am _incapable_ of doing anything without you, I am completely helpless and pathetic, and I need you there all the time, it's so stupid," She rambled out, she sighed, noticing her eyes had become a little wet, she looked up at the ceiling, blinking the tears away.

Owen was antagonized and muddled by what he just heard. He tried to make sense out of her speech, why would she say something like that after he professed his undying love to her. He laughed bitterly, "Are you kidding me? You're bringing the professional argument back again? Amelia, I'm trying to understand but I can't make sense out of this, I'm not even chief anymore, your excuse is invalid! So if you don't feel the same, just-"

"Wait, wait a minute! Owen Hunt, did you just say what I think you did? Because if you gave up chief so you could be with me, then that's just the stupidest decision anyone has ever made!"

Owen shook his head in dismay, he opened his mouth to say something, but he couldn't deny it, "Well, it didn't make a difference did it now? You're just too worried about your professionalism to think about feelings like this" he spit out eventually

Amelia couldn't believe how slow he was, "Did you not hear anything I said?" Owen was truly lost now, he couldn't comprehend where this puzzling woman was going, "I said! I need you now, I can't deal with anything anymore, not without you. I'm saying I hate you, because I love you too you idiot. You made me fall for you!" She was practically yelling at him now

Owen's pupils enlarged as his lips formed a soft "oh" sound, finally catching up to the meaning behind her anger. He grinned and chuckled in relief.

"It isn't funny," she wiped a stray hot tear off her cheek, hoping he wouldn't notice

"I'm sorry, but you're just marvelous," he didn't hide his long lasting grin as he stepped closer to her and pulled her small frame against his. He tipped her chin up so that their eyes met in harmony. "You love me too," he teased before comforting her, "So we're going to be together now, and we're going to make this work,"

"We are?" She begged for more serious reassuring from his eyes. He just nodded softly and leaned in to kiss his girlfriend. Just before their lips met in an ardent kiss, she whispered out, "Then I guess it's finally later now."


	3. Chapter 3

They made out for a while before moving it to bed, but it didn't go much further than that. Owen left her mouth, lazily leaving a trail of kisses on her neckline. Amelia was holding his shoulders tightly, when she unexpectedly fell limp in his arms. Owen's first instinct was to check her pulse. He realized he was quickly becoming the overprotective boyfriend, and he should start to refrain from it before Amelia gets mad, he knows she likes being the strong independent successful woman that she is, and that's what he loves about her as well.

When he made sure she was merely sleeping, he was partly grateful, it's not like he didn't want her, _god_ did he want her, but they were both exhausted and sleep seemed the best choice right now. She intuitively curled like a baby, tangling their legs together, and immersing her head into the burrow of his neck. He inhaled in the scent of her, and felt his body relax as their breathes even out in harmony.

He woke up about half an hour before rounds. Amelia was still sleeping soundly. He studied the lineaments of her pleasant peaceful face closely, before deciding to wake her up so he could have a few minutes with her before they started off their day. He felt a little selfish, but she was too tempting.

He started on her forehead and left light pecks attentively, he could tell she woke up since she inhaled in a deep slow breathe and an epic smile covered her face, but she kept her eyes shut. When he reached the top of her cheek bone and it was harder to move down from there, she gradually opened her heavy eyes, and stretched up so that their faces were closer together.

She smiled mischievously as she brushed her lips against his, teasing, "My lips are right here now," She whispered. Her soft throaty voice in the morning was something he had almost forgot how much it turned him on. He yearningly locked his lips with hers, his immense desire made it just more amusing for Amelia to tease further, deliberately slowing his lustful pace. She grinned into the kiss, and pulled away slowly, softly biting his lower lip, leaving him wanting. She was astounded when he didn't go at her for more, and recognized the defeated look on his face. She caught a glimpse of the clock on the wall and realized the exasperating situation they were in. She sighed, frustrated and disappointed,

"No, not again," she grimaced like she was begging the universe to just give her this one moment

"I know, I know," Owen was piqued as well, but trying to offer solace.

"Do we really have to go?" She nagged like a little kid as they both sat up

"Sadly, we do," He held her face in his palms, "but we'll talk again today, okay?"

She nodded and stole a quick kiss before he got up. He put on his lab coat and glanced back one last time at her as he held the door knob, "Amelia?"

She turned her face up, pausing from trying to fix her hair with her fingers. "I love you," he stressed on each word, letting her know he meant it and wasn't just saying it because of the moment. He grinned widely, as she forced a shaky smile, and walked out of the room.

Amelia put her hair up in a ponytail, and found her lab coat, and then she waited a few minutes before she headed out of the room.

She went to check who was her resident for the day, hoping it would be Edwards today too, she foresaw true talent in her, and she enjoyed working with her since she had picked up on Amelia's preferences.

Amelia met Meredith at the station. She smiled fonly, convinced that nothing could ruin her morning.

"Hey, I didn't see you since yesterday morning," Meredith checked in kindly

"Uh, yeah, I had a long surgery and then just crashed here," Amelia tried to hide her unconsciously forming grin at the end of that sentence

"You know, I moved out of the house but I still haven't settled on a final buyer, you might want to help out with that, and if you didn't find a place yet you can still stay there,"

"No, it's fine, I'm over it, if you want to sell it, then sell it Meredith, it's yours now," Amelia brushed it off. Of course she was irritated the last memory of her brother was being sold to a random stranger, but she tried to convince herself it was necessary to move on.

"So Owen also stayed here last night?" Meredith had intended for it to be a playful tease, but that was not how Amelia took it, given the last time Meredith asked about Owen and Amelia, it wasn't with sisterly approval.

"Meredith, can we not have this fight? You and I are finally good now, and there's this man who is absolutely perfect, and when he looks at me and tells me he loves me, all I want to do is start running far, far away. So I'm just trying to not screw this up, and I don't need you to give me more reasons to run," Amelia rambled, vexed and fed up, trying to get Meredith to back off and let her deal with her fear peacefully

Meredith had a wide smile on her face, she shook her head and raised her eyebrows at her sister in law. Amelia didn't understand the meaning behind this expression, so she frowned at Meredith, asking for further clarification.

Meredith chuckled before starting, "Amelia, I wasn't trying to start a fight, I'm sorry if last time this conversation didn't go so well, but I just wanted to be your sister, and for what it's worth, I think Owen is a good match for you," she corrected

Amelia bit the inside of her cheek and looked at the white hospital tiles. Meredith understood what Amelia was going through, relatively anyways, so she decided to try and help, "I'm not sure if you know this, but Derek and I weren't a complete fairy tale. Even after Addison left, it wasn't easy. He wanted marriage and kids, and it terrified me. It took me a long time to know I wanted it with him as well."

Amelia listened closely. She checked in with her brother often, but she, like the rest of his sisters, hadn't given much attention to his relationship with the little intern. She smiled at the thought of Derek having a sense of chivalry, and him fighting for the love of his life. "Thank you," She answered Meredith, giving her a genuine warm smile.

Meredith sighed and went back to signing a chart before handing it to the nurse, "If you don't want to go back to the house either, you can come stay with me, you know, until you find a place and settle. Arizona is staying there but there's one room left," She walked past thoughtful Amelia and turned back, "No Owen though!" She warned before leaving.

…

At lunch, Amelia was sitting with Arizona and Meredith. She decided to accept the offer and stay with them a few nights while she searched for apartments. She promised this time won't be like when she was invited to Derek's house. She knew Meredith was not obliged to her anymore, and they were friends now, but she still felt like a burden to live in an already crowded house.

Arizona got paged and had to run to save another baby. Owen boldly approached Amelia and Meredith's table. Meredith, sitting across from Amelia, noticed him first. She decided to avoid the uneasiness her presence as a third wheel might result in. She got up quickly as Owen settled his tray on the table and mouthed to Amelia silently, "No Owen in my house", she wanted her sister in law to be happy, but she couldn't have two adults in one bed with her 3 kids in the house.

After greeting, Owen asked guiltily, "So we spent last night here, but it can't be permanent, did you find a place yet?"

Amelia smiled, offering the perfect solution, "Actually, I'm staying at Mer's for a little while now."

"Oh, you're moving in with her to the old house again?" Owen inquired further, making sure she didn't mean the dream house. He has been wanting to ask her to move in with him and decide on an apartment together. He knew it was too fast, but he would have used the 'we're both out of a place' excuse.

"Yeah, we had this fight and now she's trying to make it up to me so she gave me a place," she chuckled light-heartedly. "You can come for a tonight, if you'd like," she offered sheepishly. She knew she wasn't supposed to, but she figured it won't do any harm, and her heart ached a little for him sleeping at the hospital alone.

…

That night both of them finished their day early. Conveniently enough, Amelia thought of this as a perfect opportunity to sneak Owen in.

Little did she know, Meredith got off pretty early too. She picked the kids up from day care and drove them all to the house. However, barely an hour later, she got paged to an emergency general surgery on a previous patient who had complications but seemed to be stable before she left.

She figured Amelia could save her. She knocked on her room's door, hoping she wasn't asleep or paged back to the hospital as well. After a few seconds. Amelia answered telling Meredith to come in.

Amelia covered her naked body with the blanket, hoping Meredith won't notice. Luckily for her, Meredith was in such a hurry that she jumped right into it.

"Hey, I just got paged and I need someone to watch the kids, can you do it?" Meredith asked nicely, knowing Amelia was close to the kids and was probably not going to decline

"Um, yeah sure, why not." Amelia answered, attempting to hide her shortness of breath.

Meredith however, noticed her sister's awkwardness, "Are you sure? Do you have a fever or something?" she grew suspicious.

"No, yeah, I'm fine, I was just having some dream," Amelia tried to get out of it, "You go, I've got the kids, don't worry!"

Meredith didn't have much time to over think it, so she immediately ran out of the room. As soon as Meredith was downstairs, Amelia burst into laughter, lifting the pillows and the blanket she had hid Owen under.

Owen shared her laughter, taking in what happened, "Some dream huh? What was that about?" he managed to get out in the midst of all the giggles.

Amelia calmed herself down after letting out the last of her chuckles, she sighed, "Well, like you heard, we've got 3 kids to babysit."

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 **A/N: This last part was actually pretty challenging, but it turned out to be way longer than I expected. I just wanted everyone to know though, I'm very unsure I could do a day 4 and if I managed to, it would probably be the last. I'm also sorry I'm not going to complete or elaborate the last part of this fic with details, because there are a lot of fics about that and I don't think I can write it without being too similar to the rest.**

 **I hope you all enjoyed, and I'm accepting prompts on my tumblr**

 **lostinallaspects. tumblr .com (without spaces, ofc)**


	4. Chapter 4

**A/N: I know this took forever to update, I'm sorry for that! I'm having a little trouble with reading through it and editing, so I hope this is fine. Review and let me know what you think!**

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Owen walked in Amelia's office with a wide smile, he was obviously hiding a brown folder behind his back. She immediately noticed him and turned around, leaning on her desk, waiting for him to approach.

"Good morning," he said as flirtatiously as possible. He leaned down and gave her a small tentative peck

"Morning," she said, but her eyes quickly went down to the folder he was holding, "what's that?" she asked out of curiosity more than anything

"It's your special birthday present," he replied proudly

Amelia's jaw dropped in excitement, Owen himself couldn't hide his elation, he handed her the folder after a little teasing of holding it above her. As she held the scans that were inside it towards the light, her pupils widened and she was thrilled like a little kid going to a carnival. "Owen Hunt! Is this a grade 4 butterfly glioblastoma for me?"

"It is. It's been turned down by two other doctors, he's only 30 years old, it's operable but risky, and the patients wants the surgery," Owen grinned, it made him delighted to see her this happy

"You know this will take at least 6 hours? It's beautiful!" she chuckled

"Yes, that's why I cleared you're schedule so that after you're done, you can kickback, and relax, and we can have dinner, and.. some deserts," he hinted cradling her waist

"This is the best birthday ever," she said as she put down the scans and rested her hands on his shoulders.

"For the best girlfriend ever," he whispered. Amelia felt butterflies in her stomach, they have been on good terms, but seeing the pride and joy in his eyes as he called her his girlfriend made her fall for him harder.

She pulled him down by his shirt and passionately kissed him. His hands travelled from her waist up to her hair, he just never got over her silky dark locks. He shifted again so he could hold her steadily and pick her up to place her on the desk.

The two didn't even remember the door was still open, until they heard a distinctive voice shriek, "Amy?!"

Amelia quickly pulled away and pushed Owen gently, standing up again, getting off her desk. She sighed heavily and shut her eyes tightly for a second hoping it wasn't really the voice she recognized. Unfortunately, it was. "Hi, Kate," Amelia greeted, forcing an awkward smile. Kate was nice, she didn't meddle in Amelia's life as much as her other sisters, except when it came to her love life. It didn't help that she was the one to walk in on Amelia with two of her boyfriends when she was in high school. She never dropped the subject until Amelia broke up with the guys she didn't like.

Kate approached the couple and shook hands with Owen, Amelia introduced them. "This is my sister, Doctor Kathleen Shepherd, and Kate, this is Doctor Owen Hunt, he's my.. boyfriend."

"Oh I didn't know all your siblings were surgeons as well," Owen tried to make the situation more comfortable

"They're not," Kate said with a smile, "I'm a psychiatrist. But we are all doctors, in case Amelia didn't tell you, she's not really into talking, is she?"

Owen chuckled uncomfortable, this didn't make things much better, "So, um.. I was going to.." he looked at Amelia, checking if she needed him to stay to go, "I was just leaving." They both nodded and he couldn't have gotten out of there faster.

Kate's reason for coming to Seattle remained vague, she said she had some business to handle, and that she just missed her little sister and wanted to visit on her birthday. Amelia was now even more thankful for her present now. She went to grab some lunch before getting into the surgery, Kate just tagged along. The sisters joined the table where Meredith and Callie were sitting. Amelia introduced Callie and Kate. She wrote down final notes on the chart as Meredith showed her other sister in law pictures of the kids. Amelia only caught on to the conversation when they started talking about Meredith selling the house.

"Why don't you rent it?" Kate suggested

"It would still be there, mine, it just feels like a better closure for me," Meredith tried not to show the sadness it still brought about

"Wait, you still haven't sold it yet?" Amelia asked, taking a peek at the papers Meredith was reviewing

"Um, not yet, but it's okay, you don't have to worry about that as well," Meredith said nervously, like she was trying to hide something

"Relax, I can help you find the best offer," Amelia said as she swallowed the last bite of her sandwich and pulled the paper from the top of the small pile in front of Meredith

Amelia almost chocked on her food and budged forward after reading the name of the buyer on the paper. Owen Hunt. "Owen is buying the house? And no one cared to tell me? What's this supposed to be?" she had no idea how she was supposed to feel about this, all she knew was that she was extremely perplexed and quite mad.

As if on cue, Owen came over and joined the table, he greeted everyone cheerfully, and it wasn't long before he noticed his girlfriend wasn't alright. He noticed her gaze was fixed on the paper she was clutching from the sides. He sighed, "Amelia.." he didn't get to complete his sentence as she just threw the paper on the table and got up, "I have a surgery to get to," She said flatly.

Owen got up and followed her, he had every intention for this to be the most romantic gesture, however; it seemed like she didn't agree. When she noticed he was behind her, she sighed heavily and walked into the scrub room.

She turned and faced him. "What the hell do you think you're doing? What is this about? Buying my dead brother's dream house?" her voice was louder than she intended.

"Amelia, calm down, I thought you'd be glad-"

"Glad?!" she chuckled, "The last time I checked girlfriends and boyfriends told each other before buying houses like that."

Stephanie walked in and started talking gleefully about how excited she was about the tumor, she suddenly stopped mid sentence, noticing her mentor was not in the joyous mood she was in.

Owen rubbed his forehead, not wanting to air their dirty laundry in front of Edwards, who has already witnessed enough of their love quarrels the previous year. He looked up to see Amelia was already roughly washing her hands. "Okay we will talk tonight, have fun with your surgery," he tried to make it only audible for Amelia who resiliently hid the small smile about to curl her lips.

After Amelia finished her surgery, there was nothing much to stall on because Owen had cleared her schedule earlier. After updating the charts herself, she finally went to pick up Kate from the attendings lounge. It was going to be a crowded busy night at Meredith's, "Hey, ready to go?"

"To meredith's old house or to your new boyfriend's house?" Kate retorted

"It was Derek's. And no we're not going there, stay out of this one Kate," Amelia snapped

"You know, he's nothing like any of your other boyfriends, you really love him don't you?" She observed

Amelia bit the inside of her cheek, she did love him, "What's the point here?"

"If David ever did anything like that, it would probably save our marriage," Kate said wittily

"Wait, what?" that made more sense of her visit

"Instead, all he can do is screw one of his students ten years younger than I am," Amelia looked at her sister, shocked at what she was hearing, she always thought their marriage in particular was perfect, "he's always had a wandering eye, I should have seen it coming."

"That's why you came here? Katie why didn't you tell me, when did this happen?" she approached her sister sympathetically

"It's your birthday! How could I have said anything," Kate smiled despite the tears running down her cheeks, "I caught him red handed last night and I couldn't handle staying with him and not committing a murder, I'm sorry for walking in on your life like that."

"No, no, don't say that. You can stay as long as you want to, and we're gonna get you the best divorce lawyer, and you're going to teach that lying bastard a lesson, plus you're my favorite sister" Amelia tried to smile in condolence, she knew it cheered her up whenever Derek said that to her.

"Thank you," Kate wiped her tears and looked back up at her sister, "Listen, what I meant to say out of all this, is that Owen clearly loves you too, you push people away Amelia, and I might give too much opinions on your boyfriends, but don't let this one go.. the way he looks at you.. if I ever had that with David, God knows I would never have been here."

Amelia's eyes welled up, it was all true, she loved him deeply and so did he, she should stop running away before losing him. She nodded, she took her sister home and then drove to the dream house.

She found Owen, sitting on the bench on the deck, where he held her and protected her from her demons a couple of months ago. He quickly got up and walked closer to her, "Look, I would have never done this if I knew it would upset you, but I honestly thought you'd like it, I can take back the offer if it bothers you that much," he paused, checking Amelia's reaction. It was blank, she was silent, he couldn't read her, "but before I do, you should know, I did this because every time I look at this land, I imagine our future, and I remember that night you came to me with the sparkling water, and when we were dying to be with each other without being interrupted, and I was looking forward to sharing more memories with you here." She was still silent, blank, no reaction. "I don't know if you know this, but Derek was my closest friend here, he even let me help build this deck we're standing on right now, he was a great human being, and he would want you to have it all, so I'm pushing back Amelia, you're pushing me away but I'm not giving up, you're still my girlfriend and I love you and-" he was cut off by Amelia running up to him and pressing her lips against his. _Finally, one hell of a reaction_ , Owen thought as he pressed her closer to him, relishing the taste of her lips.

When she eventually pulled away after quite a while, she kept her hands on his neck and her face in a close proximity to his, "I love you too, let's take this slow, step by step, okay?" He nodded promptly and leaned back in to get more of her again, "let's make some memories," she whispered before they went into their dreamhouse.


	5. Chapter 5

"She could have stayed with us a little longer you know," Owen said as he and Amelia got into the car. They had just dropped Kate at the airport so she could go back and finalize the divorce. Kate had stayed a week in Seattle and thought that was enough to cool down, at first she considered staying with her husband for the kids, but after seeing her sister, she decided not to settle for something as horrible as that, especially that this wasn't a fling or one mistake, this was a whole other affair. Owen had called an old friend of his, a lawyer who moved to New York, and he promised to help her.

"I told her so, but she missed the kids and it's time she left that cheating bastard for good, I just hope he's civilized enough for the kids," Amelia replied, she was clearly defensive and mad for her sister.

Owen grimaced as he pulled out of the parking lot and Amelia noticed while she put on the seatbelt, she raised her eyebrows high as she hesitantly asked, not sure if she wanted to know the answer, "What? You disagree?"

"No, no, it's just.. don't you think you're being a little harsh on him?" Owen kept his eyes on the road, expecting Amelia's rage next, she has been strongly opinionated about this and seemed to hate her brother in law more than her own sister.

"Harsh? I'm being too harsh on him? Owen, he has been sleeping with his student for 2 years!" Amelia frowned, "Where is this coming from anyway? Don't tell me you really excuse him."

"I don't, it's a horrible thing to do, it's only because.. well, I know what it's like to be the side who cheated, and it doesn't mean it didn't hurt me too," Owen regretted his words as they were coming out of his mouth

Amelia's eyes widened and she turned her whole torso to face him as he was driving, the traffic lights turning red where not in his favor, "What?!" she tried to calm herself down and remember that he has accepted her for all her past and she should do the same when it came to him, but she couldn't help but be bugged by this detail.

He sighed heavily, and tried to think of his sentences before explaining to her, "It wasn't an affair, it was one night one mistake, I didn't even remember the girl's name, and it is not why I broke up with Cristina, the beginning of the end was quite a while before that,"

Amelia inhaled and exhaled deeply, taking this information in, _he didn't even remember her name,_ she was a little confused however, what other reason than infidelity caused him to break up with his wife then? "What was it then? Why did you break up?" she asked a lot calmer than before as the traffic lights went green again.

Owen hesitated to answer this question, he didn't want to scare off Amelia again, but he opted for being completely honest, "She didn't want kids, and I did, she had an abortion and we couldn't let it go,"

Amelia swallowed hard, she wanted kids as well, but it really scared her to want them, "Do you still want kids?"

As they entered the garage of their dream house, he looked at her dreamily, imagining forming a family with her, "I do," a small smile tugged on both their faces

They walked in awkward silence through the front door, they both felt the uneasiness in the atmosphere, they just discussed two heavy topics in a car ride. It was Amelia who broke the silence as they entered the bedroom. She walked in first but then turned around without a notice and grabbed Owen who was behind her from her coat, he instinctively put his arms around her waist. She looked at him straight in the eye before quietly demanding, "Don't ever cheat on me okay? I'll kill you."

He couldn't help but chuckle slightly at first, but then he noticed that her expression was completely serious, as he realized what the situation was, he gently cupped her face in his hands and assured her, "Okay, never." He bent down to kiss her tentatively, and a kiss followed another, until they helped each other undress and get into bed.

 **A/N:** **this was sort of a transitional chapter before I move on to the next 'storyline' I have in mind. I brought in Kate because she was the only sister we haven't met yet and I wanted to see Amelia around her family, and well obviously for plot reasons.**

 **I agree that selling the house was completely unnecessary and stupid, why would Meredith leave it and go back to the smaller house now with 3 kids? It's something that Derek built, I still hope they find a way around that and not sell it in s12, the worst case scenario for me is giving the house to Amelia.**

 **Again, sorry for being late with the updating. Please let me know what you think!**


	6. Chapter 6

Owen and Amelia lay on their bed blissfully after an incredible night. She stared at the sky outside as Owen mindlessly played with her fingers. She never got it, why Derek had built the house with the all the walls basically glass windows. Until now that is, she marveled at the quiet night sky, moving her gaze from one star to the next, till she reached a group of stars who seemed to gather together closer than the others. She wondered if this could be all her loved ones now; Derek, Ryan, Mark, Michelle, her dad, her unicorn baby. She felt so alone, why did everyone just keep leaving her behind? She knew this was stupid, stars were merely balls of exploding gases, she was a scientist, but despite all that, the thought of all of them being together in another world gave her an odd sense of peace and comfort. Then there was Owen. Owen felt like her last chance of loving a man and keeping him close without him dying on her. After running away for so long, she was determined to try this time around. She turned in bed to face him more closely and planted a soft peck on his lips. She realized he was staring at her the whole time, which weirdly made her heart sing.

He propped himself up, supporting his head with his free hand and looked at her full of love and admiration, "What's going on in that mind of yours?" he asked, genuinely wanting to know.

She moved her hand to the back of his neck and made her way through his ginger curls, she loved how they wrapped around her fingers in perfect circles, "This place is so big," she said as she glanced around the room and then returned to his eyes, "It feels so weird for it to be this quiet, it has always been noisy when the kids were here," she loved her nieces and nephew so much, they were her little family

"I grew up as an only child, I've always wondered what it would be like in a chaotic house with many siblings," he said, subtly asking Amelia to tell him more about the topic

"Well, there were 5 of us, and I was always the black sheep among all the very put together golden children, but when we actually got together it was really fun, especially in Christmas or Thanksgiving," she elaborated, remembering all the memories, she remembered hating the holidays, but looking back on them now, she was glad she had all her sisters and Derek to share all these moments with, "Yeah, a big family can be really nice."

"You want kids," it wasn't really a question, more like a statement for Amelia to be verified, he tried to not get too excited about this as he was familiar with her past, though he couldn't help but be filled with hope

"I do," she frowned slightly as she realized how bad she actually did want to have a family of her own, and she wanted it with him. She rolled over on top of him and kissed him gently but passionately

"We're not having kids right now, are we?" he joked as he cradled her torso in his arms

Amelia laughed and added before continuing the kiss and deepening it, "Not the way I do it."

…

It has been a long day at the hospital, there was a car accident caused by a drunk driver on the highway, it was like a domino, after the first two cars crashed, 6 others followed. Some injuries were only slight burns and fractures but a lot were pretty extensive. The night fell and the ER finally became eerily quite as patients were either discharged, admitted or sent to the morgue. Amelia went to check on Owen after a busy day and found him sitting on a chair outside the ER with his head in his hands. She sat beside him and rested her palm on his shoulder softly. He knew it was her as soon as he felt her touch. He lowered his hands and forced a sad smile to settle the clear concern on her face, but it wasn't enough, who was he kidding? This was Amelia, a fake smile wouldn't do the trick.

"you okay?" she asked

"Yeah, yeah. It's just.. that's how my dad died, drunk driver. It just feels so unfair that he eventually lived and all these people, little kids and parents on their way to ballet recitals.." he sniffled, the understanding look in Amelia's eyes offered him condelence and calmed him down, momentarily at least. "I'll be fine," he assured her.

She half smirked and took his hand in both of hers, it has become their thing, their sign to tell each other they're there for each other, they're each other's people.

Suddenly, a car stopped abruptly in front of the ER and an old man came out of it with a little girl in his arms. Both Amelia and Owen rushed to see what the problem was. The man explained through heartbreaking tears about how his granddaughter has been quite sick for a while now, he thought it was just the flu but she kept vomiting and sleeping all the time, it wasn't like her, she's always been such an energetic 4 year old, he said.

Their shift was just about to be over, but both doctors felt sorry for the little exhausted girl, so they took them to an exam room and volunteered to take the case.

Amelia performed a basic exam on the girl as Owen asked about history and filled in her chart.

"Is there anyone we should call Mr. Rafi? Her parents?" Owen asked the old man

"No, it's just me and Dania, her mum passed away while giving birth to her and her Dad died in the war last year," The old man replied with extra information as he looked at his granddaughter, worrisome evident on his face, "is she going to be okay?"

Owen excused himself and walked over to Amelia to get an update, Amelia informed him she wanted get more tests, "She's showing signs of increased pressure in her brain, she also said she's been having headaches, I don't know if she could be repeating something she hear her grandpa said or if a 4 year old is really getting headaches, but the symptoms are consistent with an ATRT, I don't want to finalize a diagnosis without an MRI," she filled Owen in, whispering so that it's only audible to him.

"Okay, let's not rush into anything, can you inform the granddad as I take this little beauty to MRI?" She nodded in agreement and walked with Mr. Rafi to the waiting area, taking a last glance at Owen who tried to play with the Dania and cheer her up as he carried her to take her scans.

After a few minutes, Amelia caught up with Owen in MRI.

"Hey, how's he holding up?" Owen inquired about the granddad

"He's doing okay, are the scans up yet?" Amelia replied

"Here they are," both of them stared at the screen as the pictures loaded

"Oh, no," Amelia whispered to herself, not particularly meaning for Owen to hear it

"What is it?" he looked back at Amelia, knowing what this meant, but not wanting to hear it until she said it.

"You see the mass right there?" she pointed on the screen, "that's her tumor," she explained sadly, she really hoped she had been wrong before, but it was unmissable.

Owen sighed heavily, how can a girl so small already have all these problems in her life? "Did you hear about her parents?"

"Yeah, it's so sad, she has her whole life ahead of her and she already has these tragedies," Amelia replied, equally exasperated with the universe, and feeling sympathetic

"Is it operable? You can remove it right?" he felt suddenly attached to Dania and her case already

"Yes, I can, but it's right on the cerebellum, which makes it a little tricky, but she's lucky, these tumors tend to be very fast growing through the whole nervous system, we caught it early enough," she tried to be cautiously optimistic, the little girl with her angelic face had charmed her as well.

"I'll come with you to talk to the granddad," Owen offered

"Thank you," Amelia's face relaxed, his company would surely make it a little easier

…

The next day, Amelia had early rounds while Owen had no scheduled surgeries, he woke up to an empty bed and a short sweet text from Amelia. He prayed for a slow day, his mind still occupied by Dania, and it had been enough mass casualty for Seattle the previous night. As soon as he reached the hospital, he searched for his other half, to find her grabbing some brunch at the cafeteria. He gave her a quick peck on her forehead, they had agreed to keep PDA to a minimum when they first got back together, but their blooming romance was no secret to the hospital. After some small talk about their mornings, Owen asked about Dania worriedly, he had the excuse that she was practically also his patient. Amelia knew how he could get attached to certain cases, like he did with Ruby, she found it endearing.

"You can scrub in with me if you'd like," Amelia offered

"Really? I mean I'd love to but I haven't operated on a brain since I was a 4th year resident," Owen was hoping she would insist anyway, and she read his face and did

"You can just enjoy the show, plus, she really likes you, it'll be easier for that sweet scared 4 year old about to enter surgery," Amelia herself has grown to love her

The agreement was made and they both met in the OR later that day. Owen came in just in time, as Dania was strolled in on a stretcher and positioned under the lights. Her tiny lips were quivering and tears fell down her olive skin. Owen's heart sank when he saw her like that, he rushed beside her and patted her raven curls softly.

"Hey, sweetie, it's gonna be okay," he whispered next to her ear

"I'm sca'ed," Dania sobbed out

"I know, but you don't have to be, I'm going to be here the whole time, and Dr Amelia is going to help all the vomiting and the headaches go away," Owen used Amelia's first name, figuring it would make Dania more comfortable

"Like Amelia Badelia?" the little girl suddenly stopped sobbing, though tears kept streaming down her face

He chuckled at her slight excitement, "Not exactly, but you can be just as brave as Amelia Badelia."

She nodded as Owen's words had calmed her down, "will it hur' me?" she asked innocently.

"No, not even a little bit, you just have to go to sleep for a little while, just think of the happiest thing you can imagine and close your eyes," he reassured

"I love unicorns!" she exclaimed, smiling as she sniffled cutely.

Owen laughed and nodded, staying beside her as the mask covered almost all of her small face. Amelia walked in and greeted everyone, asking if they're ready for the operation, and warning them that it won't be a short one.

About an hour into the surgery, Amelia was faced by an expected minor complication.

"VP dropping," the nurse informed

"What's happening? What's wrong with her?" Owen demanded to know

"Push 100 grams of 20 percent mannitol!" Amelia ordered over Owen's voice

"Do something! What's going on?!" Owen stood up and shouted, he was agitated

"Dr Hunt respectfully shut up!" Amelia snapped as she tried to focus, "there, bleeding under control."

"VP returning to normal," the nurse restated what the rhythm on the screens made clear

Owen sighed heavily and sat back down as Amelia returned to resicting the tumor. After a few seconds, she blinked slowly and calmly ordered, "Dr Hunt please step out of my OR."

"What? Amelia what the hell?" Owen refused to get out

"Dr Hunt," she began sharply, letting him know this wasn't about them anymore, "that was only a bleeder, there are going to be a lot more, I can't have you here, I'm sorry but please, step. Out." It was more firm this time, clearly not negotiable, forcing him to storm out.

Owen first updated Mr. Rafi that Dania was good, and then he moved on to take care of the few patients who came to the ER and busied himself with some paperwork, which he ended up staring blankly at it because he couldn't keep his mind off the unidentifiable feeling he had in that OR. He's never been one to get to triggered by a patient's bleeder, and he knew Amelia was more than qualified to pull this off flawlessly, he couldn't reason what caused his reaction. While he was lost in his thoughts, Jackson Avery knocked on his office door and let himself in.

"Hellooo," Jackson snapped him out of his daydreaming

"Oh, hi, I'm sorry, I didn't notice you come in," Owen acted like it was because he was absorbed in whatever paper was in front of him, but it wasn't fooling anyone, "Did you need anything Avery?"

"Yes, actually, I wanted to talk to you about.. policies," Jackson cleared his throat awkwardly

"Policies? You're aware I'm not a part of the board anymore.." Owen raised his eyebrows, still not getting what Jackson was hinting

He cleared his throat again, a little harder, "Well, there has been some rumors, going around, about you being involved with another co worker."

"Oh," Owen remembered he still hadn't given Amelia the stupid consent paper, "Yeah, it's not really a secret. I just forgot, I'll get you the signed document soon," he deliberately didn't identify a date, a little intimidated by the possible reaction Amelia would have.

"Then we can stop pretending that not everyone knows this has been going on for quite a while now, I'd appreciate it if you could get me the paper this week?" Jackson grimaced. Owen just nodded, already calculating how he was going to have to bring this up tonight.

Eventually, he found himself waiting in front of the OR door. Luckily enough, Amelia had been just finishing off, she went out, still in her scrub cap and gown, to find Owen leaning against the door, staring at the floor. He approached her nervously and asked how the surgery went.

"It was brilliant, I was brilliant, actually," she started with a smile, but her expression quickly changing to a more serious one, "I got technically all of the tumor, we're gonna have to do a repeat scan to determine whether she'll need a few sessions of chemotherapy," she said as if she was updating a parent, professional and informative

He breathed in audibly and decided sooner was better than later, "I believe I owe you and apology.. I have no idea what happened in there, I freaked, I'm sorry, truly."

She had wanted to stay mad. She planned to lecture him and give him a piece of her mind, but he was being attentive and his apologetic tone sounded sincere, so she stopped fighting the smirk that was tugging her lips, "Okay."

Owen's eyebrows were brought closer together in minimal confusion, "So.. we're okay?"

"Yeah," her answers were kept short, but the growing smile on her face gave him comfort, "I'm just tired," she ripped off her scrub cap, releasing her silky ponytail.

He silently placed his hand on the small of her back, and walked with her into an on call room. She crashed on the bed and he followed behind her, massaging her tense shoulders with his strong hands. She let herself enjoy it for a few minutes and relaxed under his touch. Then she reached out for one of his hands and pulled his arm around her waist, letting him know that she just wanted to sleep, besides, she just loved curling up with him behind her, the single arm thrown over her made her feel protected. They closed their eyes and fell into deep restful sleep.

 **A/N:** **the plan was to complete this chapter even further but it started getting longer than the separate chapters I usually post, so I decided to update now and post the second part alone later. The second part is when it gets more real! I hope you like this, let me know what you think xx**


	7. Chapter 7

**A/N** **: So apparently things go way faster in my head than when I write it out. With that said, I think I have a plan for the next 4 chapters at least. I hope you enjoy this, please review and let me know what you think!**

They woke up in the on call room about the same time, thankful that they slept through the night without much disturbance as they were both on call. Owen opened his eyes first, and kept his eyes fixated on Amelia as she stretched next to him, he was mesmerized by how beautiful she can be even when she just woke up with her smudged eyeliner from the previous day, she could go on without fixing it and she'd pull it off without a doubt. She eventually opened her eyes as well, biting her lips as she looked at Owen staring at her. He leaned in and kissed her shortly but sweetly. "Every morning should be like this," he sighed.

"I'm still mad," she retorted, though still smiling

"You don't look mad"

"How am I supposed to look mad when you're looking at me like that!"

"Like what?"

"Like that, with your Owen-y perfect loving eyes!"

"I can't help that I love you" he giggled, planting yet another kiss on her smirking lips

"I love you too.. but I'm still upset," she pouted like a little sulking kid, it was adorable.

"About yesterday.."

She nodded, biting the inside of her cheek, "it was like you were treating me as if I'm incompetent, you were shouting at me, I had no choice but ask you to leave, what happened In there?"

" It's not like that at all, I know that you are a brilliant surgeon, Amelia Shepherd. I don't know what to tell you, I was just really scared for her, I'm really sorry, I promise it won't happen again."

She saw that it was real, it wasn't just some lame apology, "You really care about Dania now don't you?"

He nodded, half smirking. She propped herself up and gave him a deep kiss, letting him know that his apology was accepted. She then pulled away and stood up quickly, adjusting her hair with her fingers and tying it up. Owen sat up and pulled her down by her hand, so that she fell sitting between his arms, he kissed her excruciatingly slow and teasing, and pulled away after lightly biting the tip of her lower lip. "What are you doing?" she felt her breath catch

"Where are you going?"

"I have rounds, and I left Edwards to update Mr. Rafi yesterday, I want to check on him and Dania myself today." she swallowed hard, she hated that she had to leave him in this state.

"I'll come with you"

She raised her eyebrows at him, questioning his suggestion, and weighing it carefully.

"What?" he frowned

"Nothing, you can come, I just want you to be careful, the first thing we're taught is not to get too personally attached to a patient"

He sighed heavily, "Don't worry about me, it's just a heavy case, I'll be helpful"

They shared a last peck before getting up and heading to talk to Mr. Rafi and Dania. Mr. Rafi stood up as the doctors entered the room.

"Hey Danny, how are you feeling today?" Owen grinned at her

"Bo'ed! I want ca'toons," Danny crossed her arms dramatically

Amelia chuckled at her expression as she performed a neuro exam, "Well, she seems fully responsive, and the scans seem clear, but I'd like to keep her for observation for a few days"

"Thank you so much doctors, thanks for helping my baby girl" Mr. Rafi said tiredly

Owen and Amelia exchanged glances and both smiled and nodded at the old man. All of a sudden, the lazy smile on his face faded and he fell back down on the chair passing out.

"Papa!" Dania cried. Amelia rushed to check his pulse and responses, as Owen rushed to call a nurse and walked back in a second later, cradling the scared little girl in his arms. Amelia then remembered that there was diabetes in Dania's medical family history. She ordered the nurse to draw blood and start him on iv fluids with glucose immediately as they carried him to the guest bed.

Mr. Rafi woke up a couple of minutes later, explaining that he was indeed diabetic, and he must have forgotten to eat after taking his shot of insulin, Amelia ordered a head CT to ensure there was no concussion or internal bleeding, and assured him that everything was going to be fine. After checking on a few other patient, Amelia headed to the cafeteria and joined Owen, Alex, Jo and Meredith, she shared the story with the group.

"Did you call child protective services?" Owen asked like it was the only natural thing

"What? Why would I do that?"

"Amelia, he forgot to _eat_ , did you at least check for other dementia symptoms?"

"He doesn't have dementia, he does however have diabetes, which isn't a reason to take Dania away from her only remaining family"

"Owen has a point, I know a thing or two about Alzheimer's, first you forget where you left your keys, then you lose track of time and meals, maybe the girl is better off with child protective family," Meredith intervened

"Like little girls who had tumors removed from their brain are on high demand for adoption? I know the system, maybe Amelia is right, if the guy can give her a home and put food on the table it's better than her growing up to find herself living in a car," Jo commented

"Food and a home isn't the only thing a kid needs, what a kid doesn't need is a psycho guardian, trust me on that one," Alex said

It seemed like they were split down the middle on what to do for the little girl and her grandpa, "Look, they're both going to be kept under observation for a few days, she's going to be safe, I'll check on him again later, I won't risk calling CPS right now," Amelia argued as she bit on her apple finishing it, and getting up from the table. Owen excused himself and followed her quickly, meeting her at a quiet nurse station.

"Hey, did you need something?"

"Um, yes actually, I wanted to give you this," he passed a folded paper on the counter and left it in front of her.

She opened it and skimmed it without actually reading, "What's this?"

"Remember when I told you the hospital has rules? If you sign this, we don't have to worry about them anymore, it basically says that both parties aren't forced into this relationship and aren't taking advantages of each other,"

Amelia put the paper in her pocket and stepped closer to Owen, whispering to him in a sexy raspy voice "I plan to take full advantage"

He blushed noticeably and chuckled uncomfortably, trying to suppress his excitement in public, "Well, how about, you let me take you out on a date?"

"A date?" Amelia's eyebrows wrinkled as she imagined the idea. Sure they've shared meals in the house and the hospital and once in a small café nearby, but even though they were a month into their relationship, they haven't done anything more adventurous or fancy, mostly due to the fact that they had busy schedules and they spent their days off sleeping.

"Yes a date, this Saturday is going to be a sunny day in Seattle, supposedly, there are like 5 of these in a year, so what do you say?"

"Okay, sure, take me out on date," Amelia grinned, her own cheeks flushing and she felt her heart racing slightly.

..

Owen waited impatiently in the living room, looking at his watch every 5 seconds. "Amelia!"

"Just a minute!"

"You said that 15 minutes ago," he said under his breath

"What was that?" Amelia walked in with her hands on her hips

Owen looked up in surprise to see that Amelia was finally ready, standing in front of him, he was blown away by her black dress with laced sleeves, but he looked very unsure, "Wow.. you look.. amazing."

She could read him like an open book, usually, but she struggled to figure what his stuttering meant this time, "What? Am I underdressed? Would you just tell me where we're going?"

"Noo, you're not at all underdressed, and I didn't tell you because I want it to be a surprise" he paused a little, wanting to tell her to change but not ready to wait that long, "You might want to wear a little more comfortable shoes"

They reached their planned destination, and Amelia was surely surprised. "An amusement park?"

"You don't like it.. oh god, I thought it'd be fun"

"No, no, I like it, it's new that's all, but it could be fun!" she forced a grin and tried her best to act excited, grateful that she did change from her high heels to lower more comfortable shoes.

They walked together, hand in hand. Owen's enthusiasm quickly returned and he seemed to falsely believe that this was still a good idea, "Okay then, let's start with something light, we're going to go on the Ferris wheel, you'll be able to see all of Seattle from above great view," he was sounding really romantic, little did he know this wasn't light at all.

Amelia tried to convince herself this was going to be as fun and romantic as her boyfriend thought of it, so she took a deep breath and followed him to the first cabin. As soon as it started moving, she instinctively shifted to hold Owen's hand tightly. He squeezed it back and held both their hands intertwined in his lap, he was still smiling, unaware of what was about to happen.

Amelia had shut her eyes or tried to look anywhere other than the windows, however, when they neared the top, Owen became really excited, "Aims look at this! You can see all of Seattle, it's a beautiful view."

Amelia –still trying to cover it up- looked up slowly as calmly as possible to scan the view outside the cabin's big window, though it truly astonished her, it only took her a second to move her eyes an inch down so she could see how high above the ground they were. That's when she let out a long suppressed panic attack, "Oh my god! Oh my god! Why the hell are we so high!" she started hyperventilating and shaking severely

It didn't take Owen a split of a second to turn from thrilled and romantic to worried and helpless. He turned to face her and held her by her arms hoping to calm her down, "What is it? Amelia, tell me what's happening, what's wrong?"

"I have a fear of height!" She almost yelled at him, still struggling to breathe normally, and shaking in his arms.

"And you didn't think of confessing this before we got on the wheel?" He was pretty exasperated with the situation himself, but mostly nervous because he wanted to help her.

Out of the frying pan, into the fire, the Ferris wheel came to a sudden halt when they were right in the highest point in the ride. "What's happening? Why did it stop? Oh God are we stuck here!?"

Her breathing wasn't getting any better, and Owen felt like his hands were tied, but he decided to try anyway. He scooted closer to her and gently grabbed her face between his hands, stopping her from staring down the window, "Look at me, look at my eyes, it's only me and you, and nothing else matters, it's going to be fine, it's going to be okay, just keep your eyes on me, now breathe," soon enough, their breathes synchronized and Amelia kept staring right into Owen's green blue eyes, and for a second, she really believed it, it was him and her and it was all going to be fine. She gradually relaxed as the wheel started descending again.

"I am so, so sorry, I really thought I could control it and be fine, I'm so sorry," She apologized guiltily

"It's okay, it's my fault, I thought I wanted to do something special, I should have taken you to a fancy restaurant instead"

"No, you're just perfect and I'm a mess," She covered her face with both her hands, feeling self conscious

He softly took removed both her hands and kissed them, "Do you like ponies?" He smirked, "There's a horses and ponies section, somewhere here"

"I love ponies, let's go see them"

The couple bought a few carrots and headed to feed the horses, their date finally seeming to start getting better. A slight breeze came their way and Owen noticed Amelia wrapping her arms around herself. He promptly took off his jacket and place it on her shoulders, and he'd thought of how it fit her better than it ever did him, she could look stunning in anything, he thought.

They were feeding and playing with the ponies, sharing laughs and giggles, when the unimaginable happened. One of trainers was making a great effort trying to control one of the horses, and without a warning, the horse neighed loudly bringing everyone's attention to the scene. Suddenly, it lifted its front legs up violently and the trainer got kicked forcefully, getting thrown off to a shockingly long distance away.

People gathered around the injured man blocking Amelia and Owen's view who were watching the whole thing with widened eyes and mouth agape. "Is there a doctor in the house?" someone wailed frantically among the group, causing both of them to run through the crowd.


	8. Chapter 8

"Does anyone have a first aid kit?" Owen shouted as he checked for a pulse. This date was a complete disaster, he thought he planned it perfectly, but now it seemed like they were going to end up at work again, not that he wasn't grateful to be able to save a life, but he had just wished the universe would let him and Amelia catch a breath

"Here! There's the vet's supplies, will they do?" another trainer handed Owen a bag of basic medical supplies, Owen checked the contents and quickly decided that it'll have to do while they waited for the ambulance

"He has multiple broken bones and I'm pretty sure I felt a fracture in the spine between L2 and L3, pupils are equal and reactive but he's unconscious," Amelia notified Owen as he fished for a stethoscope and listened to his breath sounds

"He's got a huge hemothorax, I have to insert a chest tube to drain the fluid, help me move him to a more sterile place," He ordered

"Didn't you hear what I said? We can't move him here or we'll risk paralysis from the legs down"

"I can't do it here, the infection risk couldn't be higher"

Amelia pursed her lips and shook her head at Owen, she knew if the chest tube wasn't placed he would bleed out into his lungs, but she couldn't risk paralysis when she knew she had a chance at restoring mobility if they reach the hospital fast enough. After a few moments of hesitation, Owen decided he had no other choice, "Damn it, this can't wait for the ambulance." He cut the trainer's jacket and shirt using a pair of large scissors he found among the supplies. Amelia helped move the arm up gently so Owen could make the incision and insert the tube. A large gush of fluid and blood was drained out the lung and Owen used a suture kit to keep the tube in place. The pain of the sutures without any ansthetic triggered the trainer and woke him up, gasping, coughing and screaming of pain. Amelia rushed to hold his head down and stabilize his position.

"Hey, hey, look at me, what's your name?"

"John, John Smith," he coughed out and whined

"Ok, listen to me John, I know it hurts, but you have to stay still, if you move you might get paralyzed, blink once if you can understand me"

John blinked once and kept breathing heavily and wincing, luckily, it only took 5 more minutes for the ambulance to arrive. When they reached Grey Sloan Memorial, Owen and Amelia had to rush into the OR, they barked orders as the residents received them.

"Warren hook him up on antibiotics, lots of it, and change that test tube right away, also don't forget to give him a sedative"

"Edwards rush him into CT right now and then hurry him into the OR with the scans"

"Page Torres and tell her to meet us in surgery. Page Grey and Pierce for a consult, and let them join us in the OR if it appears like he has any further internal bleeding"

They basically ran as they gave their orders, stopping by a supply closet to get a pair of scrubs each and then pacing to the elevators. As soon as the elevator door began to close, They started taking their clothes off, Amelia starting with the simple jewelry and Owen with his shirt. He giggled as he unbuttoned his shirt and shook his head humorously. Amelia turned around and gestured for him to help her with the zipper on the dress, "What is it?"

He brushed her hair to the side and couldn't resist but give a quick kiss on her soft translucent skin on the back of her neck, "This is not exactly how I imagined we'd take our clothes off tonight," he chuckled as he took her zipper down all the way

She laughed at the thought, realizing that he had probably planned every last detail of their date, "You've been imagining huh?"

Owen removed his pants so that he was left in only his briefs and she took off the dress completely to reveal a sexy two piece lingerie. The couple paused for a moment, taking in each other, both couldn't be more bitter at the universe that they weren't able to mount each other right then and there. The elevator's ring was what alerted them to continue redressing quickly, reminding them that it was getting closer to the OR floor and it could open any minute.

"You're evil," Owen said as he put on the top clumsily, still staring at Amelia and incapable of removing that image of her from his mind

She smirked suggestively, "Like you said, not exactly how I envisioned stripping tonight. Now concentrate Dr. Hunt." She tied her hair up and straightened her back, ready for the elevator to open.

As Owen finished off tying his pants, he slapped her bum playfully and whispered into her ear, "So you've been doing some imagining yourself, Dr Shepherd?"

They both walked out, smiling like smitten teenagers as they headed to the OR. They started discussing the medical approach intended, all to be confirmed by the awaited scans, all in attempt to focus their concentration on the patient.

Callie assisted Amelia with the spine repair and Owen assisted Maggie with repairing the punctured lung. They faced quite a few complications, the patient coded 2 times, but they brought him back every time, at the end of the day, it was a hardcore exciting trauma surgery.

"I'm sorry today turned out like this, I wanted it to be a perfect date, it turned out catastrophic," Owen apologized coyly as they walked out the hospital toward Owen's truck that was fortunately parked at the hospital from the previous day.

"Are you kidding me? That was hot! Best date ever," Amelia bumped Owen's shoulder deliberately, with her hands in the pockets of the coat Owen gave her earlier.

Owen chuckled, admitting he fully enjoyed it just as well, "Yeah, it was. I just wanted to win you a bear, and take you to dinner in a small restaurant at the park, and then we'd watch the fireworks because you love it, I know it sounds cheesy, but I'm glad you enjoyed today nevertheless"

" Of course I did, we went out together, it was perfect. We can still order in and eat together at home," she tried to cheer him up

"Yeah, we can. Or we can skip right to the end," he tilted his head playfully

"What did you have in mind?"

Owen leaned in and whispered to her ear, telling her how he'd torturously pleasure her, stopping at the point where he knew she would break. Amelia suddenly felt her dress was tighter and restricting, all she wanted was to rip it off and rip off his shirt. She clutched his tie as he pulled away looking right in her big bright blue eyes, "Get in the car and drive us home right now," she was already starting to feel breathless.

They lay together, their naked bodies tangled with each other like they were one inseparable being. Amelia mumbled in her sleep, and Owen didn't mind one bit waking up from his light sleep to her incoherent wording, he thought it was the most adorable thing, he'd listen to all she said and tried to make any sense of them, it was the little secret that he will always keep. However as the stars slowly disappeared, and in their place came the faint pink glow of the next day, Amelia's dream seemed to be getting disturbing as the muddled mumbles became more unclear and louder, and her hands clutched the sheets and formed closed fists. He watched closely, ready to be there for her, but he wouldn't dare wake her up. As Owen expected, Amelia sprung up all at once from the bed with a clamorous screech, yelling for Owen's life, her words as clear as the sun this time.

She squirmed restlessly in Owen's arm, shaking while she let her hands roam all over him, tracing the details of his face, squeezing his arms and shoulders, and then touching her own face and wrapping her arms around herself. Owen mirrored all her movements, following her eyes everywhere, he tried to sooth her by stroking her hands attentively and whispering words of serenity to her. It seemed like she was in another world, like his words were inaudible to her, but she suddenly stopped and her shoulders slackened, finally bringing her sight to meet Owen's, she sighed in relief and closed her eyes.

Owen was dumbfounded by the whole scene that he just witnessed, he assured Amelia that he's not going anywhere while he tentatively removed his hands from hers and got up to get her a glass of water. As if the past few minutes weren't fretting enough, he came back to find Amelia curled in the corner of the room, staring at a paper she held firmly in both her hands. He hurriedly wended his way to her, settling the glass of water in front of her and sitting next to her in the same position. He didn't need to talk for her to start, her voice was broken and quiet, it made him hurt to see her in pain, he almost physically felt it.

"This paper. If I sign it, it means I'm officially your girlfriend. Like the something that we have is a real thing here." She remarked factually

Owen frowned, they didn't need a silly paper to 'officially' make them anything, what they had couldn't be fathomed into a few lines of unapologetic shameless degrading words for love. "Amelia, what we have, it is real, and you belong with me, paper or without it, this isn't a marriage contract, it's just too keep us from the gossip and chagrin," he addressed his fear to her in his flawless comeback.

"What about when you get hit by a horse or a car and you end up unconscious in my arms, and then this stupid paper won't let me operate on you and bring you back because I'll be your girlfriend on paper."

"Now why would I bit hit by cars and crazy horses?"

"Because that' what happens when someone gets near me, the universe is too busy slapping me down, it'll take down anyone who's near" she let out a sob she hadn't realized was in her

"Well not me, because with me, the universe is holding us up high, and I'm nothing short of beholden of the luck that the universe struck me with when I met you"

"Don't die on me"

"I will do my best, I promise. And if you want I'll keep a signed consent for you to operate on me in case of a car or horse accident"

She then instantly grabbed a pen from the bedside table near her and signed the paper before confidently locking her lips with his and leaning toward his torso. He held her assertively but tenderly, kissing her head through the hair and letting it rest on his shoulder. For the next few hours, they sat in easing silence, watching the sunrise.

 **A/N:** **I hope you guys like it! I had intended about including a hot scene but the idea was a trigger for me, so I decided to avoid it, I'm sorry. Anyway, I'd appreciate the feedback!**


	9. Chapter 9

The next several days were a glimpse of calm before the storm. Owen and Amelia enjoyed their week with ecstasy when their schedules seemed to match up unpredictably for 3 nights in a row, giving them some time to ravish each other with pure passion. With every moment and every flick of an eye, they fell harder for each other. Fear filled Amelia's heart, as she remembered her conversation with Derek about how finding true love could very possibly destroy her. She covered it up and tried to savor the way he made her heart beat rapidly. It was like being together for the first time every time.

Owen, on the other hand, was trying the hardest he could to not scare her off. He knew their situation was tricky, they were sort of a thing, and then that was on pause, and now they were in this relationship that felt like it has been going on forever, but in fact, it was fresh and new and he dared not risk everything. He revered her every morning, Owen just revered her, thinking of how he wanted to tell her how he wanted to be with her forever, and how he wanted to have 5 kids with her, and he wanted this to happen now. He secretly considered Amelia's age and how long she had left, he didn't want to think about it that way or ever bring that up, but he couldn't help but think that not pushing Amelia will have him end up regretful. He had waited long enough with Cristina, he had wasted enough time, and after he thought it was over, after he had lost hope and conjectured that he had managed to destroy his chances at both love and a family, Amelia came along to prove him wrong. He never imagined he could love anyone like this, what he felt with her was beyond linguistic comprehension. He never in a million years wanted to lose that, not again, not after he has allowed his feelings to bloom and grow even bigger, if that was possible. So everyday he lied in his dilemma, answering with "Nothing" every time Amelia asked him what was wrong. Surprisingly enough, she let it drop, it was like she knew the answer and asked out of obligation rather than actually wanting to know.

Another thing they had gotten used to was occasionally checking up on Dania. After a few nights of observation, Amelia decided it was best she went through sessions of chemotherapy to ensure the tumor would not recur. Practically, Owen and Amelia weren't her doctors anymore, but whenever they were having a rough day, they randomly visited her and her grandpa, causing him to worry at first, and assuring him every time that she didn't need any more surgery. A couple of minutes with her and it made their day better. Owen and Amelia had found each other both staring through her window as she slept cuddled up with granddad. Owen still held his ground, as Amelia refused to diagnose Mr. Rafi with dementia, insisting that however old he may be, the system is no better for Dani. Amelia had settled this by letting them agree to disagree, she has seen how silly Addison was when she argued with Sam medically, and she didn't want that to happen to her own experience.

Bailey was officially recommended by Richard for the next of chief of surgery, and Catherine has also made her recommendation for the other Candidate to be the one and only April Kepner. The word has gotten around the hospital about a showdown between the two, different rumors perpetuating different predictions. Some said Bailey was the obvious choice as a more experienced fellow, known for the Nazi. Others appreciated April's new bad ass persona, talking about how she was kickass in the army and she has been doing an impeccable job running the most horrifying situations and traumas in the ER. The biggest issue against both sides however is that both sides were unbiased, Bailey being an already active board member, and April was Catherine's daughter in law, it was a conflict of interest. Amelia noticed this, and she decided to take advantage, so she approached Richard innocently that day.

"Hey, Richard!" Amelia beamed almost too enthusiastically

"Hi, Amelia, I was just about to come catch you for a quick consult, probably nothing but I need you to sign off on it"

"Okay, sure. Listen, I wanted to ask you something, you know, as an experienced ex chief"

"Is everything okay" he asked fatherly

"Everything is great. Is it true about the board letting Bailey and Kepner fight the chief thing out?" She asked the way a sport enthusiast would ask about a wrestling match

Richard chuckled lightly, "They're not going to fight it out physically if that's what you're hoping, but yes basically that's what's gonna happen."

"Uhuh. And hypothetically, since the job is technically vacant, any third or fourth member can apply, isn't that right?"

"Correct" Richard paused before observing the sly grin creeping on Amelia's face and realizing her intentions, "You're not-"

"Yes I am!" She lifted her shoulders up innocently, "Thanks, chief!"

Amelia hurried to find Edwards and told her to rearrange her surgeries so that she'd have some free time that morning. Stephanie had become more of a little sister/friend to Amelia, or at least, she liked to think of it that way. Apart from her small family of Meredith, Maggie and Owen, Richard and Stephanie were one of the few people who seemed to care.

"Wait, why are we pushing the aneurysm clip? I'm entering my fifth year and you told me I could do this one solo, did you change your mind? Please don't change your mind, I'm ready, I watched you do only about a hundred of those" Edwards rambled worriedly

"Relax, Steph. I know you're ready, but I'm preparing for _something_ "

"Something? Like a new miracle tumor? How big is this something?"

Amelia stopped walking when she reached her office and turned around to look at her resident. She opened her mouth to say something then closed it, contemplating whether to tease her or to let her know the news. She went for the latter, unable to hold all the excitement for herself. "I'm running for Chief of surgery" she whispered after looking left and right, knowing fully that this wasn't a secret to be kept for long, though she hoped to be able to finish her application and get approved before the word got out.

"YOU'RE RUNNIG FOR-" Edwards started exclaiming loudly before being shushed down quickly to a whisper by her mentor, "Chief or surgery!"

Amelia nodded, pursing her lips together, failing to hide the wide grin on her own face, "Now, I need you to push the aneurysm clip so I could prepare my application, is that okay?" she raised her eyebrow, returning to boss mode

"That's perfect! You have to promise me I'll get to still be on the Chief's service after this"

"Edwards, you're with me. Now go manage my schedule before I change my mind," Amelia quipped, sending Edwards running with a peppy spirit. She chuckled and shook her head at her student's excitement for her. She managed to get all the needed requirements done that day and sent them in almost right away. Stephanie and she also did a remarkable job at keeping it for themselves. She wanted to tell Owen, scared of the possible consequences this could have on their relationship, and what this will bring to the table, she eventually concluded that this didn't need to be discussed until she knew she was even being considered. By the end of the week, she got the good news, she was now the third candidate, and she needed to have a presentation ready to convince the board why she should be chosen. What made it even better is that with the 3 exquisitely impressive candidates, no more applications were going to be accepted.

She decided she didn't want to wait anymore, so she hurried to find Owen and share it before he heard it from anyone else. She found him coming out of an ICU unit, looking drained and exhausted.

"Hey, tough case?"

"Yeah, we closed him up in the OR and we're waiting to see if he survives the next 24 hours, he seems like a lost cause but he's only 18."

"These are always the hardest" she offered some consolation, "do you want to hear some good news? Or at least, hopefully good news" she smirked slightly

"I'd love some good news right now," Owen sighed and rubbed his forehead

Amelia started to say something but then her pager buzzed loudly interrupting them. She looked at it and her face fell, "it's Mr Rafi, 911" she reported and began walking hastily

He followed her frowning, "What? I thought they were only here for chemotherapy, why are you being paged?"

"I don't know" Amelia grimaced as she was now running towards their room, Owen the same.

They arrived to find a team of residents and nurses already trying to resuscitate the old man. Amelia rushed and took over, performing the CPR violently herself. Owen, more calm about the terrible situation, approached the bed and asked clearly but softly about how long he has been down. 15 minutes, he was answered. He stood by Amelia silently, letting her exhaust her own hope, before saying out loud, what she knew was true. "He's gone, Amelia" She briskly wiped off a stray tear that had leaked from her eye, and announced the time of death monotonously. "You can call child protective services now," she retorted a little too harshly and excused herself out.

She went about her day, refusing to any interaction beyond completely necessary professional communication. After she finished her last surgery, she ran into her office and allowed herself to cry. She had held it in all day in order to be able to continue her job, she couldn't feel, but now, she had to, because now, she had a lot to lose and she hated day 1, so she promised herself to not go back there, and for that, she needed to let herself feel. After several minutes in solitude, she knew exactly what she had to do. She wanted to call Charlotte, but she figured she would either be busy with the triplets or be catching the chance to sleep. Instead she imagined exactly what she would tell her, "You need to get your ass to a meetin' right this second". So she did, and there she realized, she owed Owen an apology, and some good news. She had to decide on the good part of today so that she wouldn't lose herself. She picked up some food and headed back to the hospital, knowing Owen's shift still had a little less than an hour to end. She knocked on his office door and entered before hearing an answer, to find him behind his desk, staring blankly at the few papers in front of him. "Hey! I brought some Chinese, I thought you'd be hungry, it's been a long day,"

He looked up slowly, noticing Amelia for the first time, "How much do you love me?" he asked flatly

Amelia was taken aback by the question and its tone, she stood there for a whole minute gazing at him, "Is this about earlier today? I'm sorry about that," She paused, watching Owen get up tentatively and shake his head lightly, "Oh, you found out didn't you? Ugh I wanted to tell you earlier but I thought it was better to celebrate together later, which is now! Don't be mad, I love you, and everything's fine."

"You love me?" Owen asked again, pleading for an answer

Amelia sighed, still not realizing the gravity of the situation, she walked past him and put the bags of food on his desk, she gathered a serious expression on her face and replied, "I love you. I love you so much that I'm scared it will destroy me, Owen."

He looked at her, really looked at her, for the first time that night, pouring his eyes into hers. She quickly realized the expression on his face was guilt and not anger. She felt her breath catch and her heart skip a beat. As Owen continued gazing at her, she let her sight shift to the papers in front of her.

 **Adoption Order** read the title

 **Your name (adopting parent(s)):** _Owen Hunt_

She skipped over a few lines

 **Child's Name:** _Dania Rafi Hunt_


	10. Chapter 10

The beach is one of her favorite places. She loves swimming, and she prefers it in the sea way more than in a shallow pool. Sometimes she'd just lay there enjoying all the waves rocking her back and forth, drifting her far away, until she'd lost track of time and she realizes she has to work her way to the shore and get back to reality one way or another. She liked the calm predictable waves, what she hated is the ones that she only notices after they've flipped her over and made her lose her balance, the ones that were clear to come if you pay close attention, but make her feel stupid for not noticing the signs while she was busy drowning in a hundred other thoughts in the water.

Everything came back to her as if she was watching the tape of all their interactions in fast forward mode. Now it made sense, all of it. The way he was freaking out, the way he was too attached, he was acting like a very typical Dad. Amelia was furious, mostly with herself for not seeing this coming, and rightfully on Owen for hiding this. She exhausted herself both analytically and emotionally staring at the papers and words in front of her, until the letters started to look meaningless. Owen froze, anticipating her reaction, bracing himself for the upcoming tornado. He switched his gaze between her and the floor, he wanted to feel ecstatic and proud for finally taking matters to his own hands and getting a kid, a family, that's what he always wanted, right? Then why was he feeling like he just committed a murder instead? He just stood, and waited.

"Oh, no." she mumbled incoherently, she then finally looked up and raised her voice with an underlying sense of condescendence , "What did you do?!"

"I wanted to talk to you about this but there was no right time, and today after the last of her family died, I had to do this before they discharged her, I couldn't let her go to the system, you have to understand," Owen defended through a plea

Amelia laughed humorlessly and then she scoffed, "Oh so now I'm right about the system?"

"Amelia, I look at her, and I look at us with her, you and I and Dani, and I can't imagine her with any other family, she's ours, can't you see? This could be our family," he tried again desperately

Amelia, however, was not giving in, saying she was apoplectic would be an understatement of how mad she was with him, "Right, so this was supposed to be what a two months anniversary gift of some sort? Were you going to hide her in a box and wrap my eyes, and surprise! How was that supposed to work out? I'm guessing you'd apply as a single father, maybe explain to the social worker about how the booty calls for the last two months weren't going to be a problem."

"Two months? You and I both know this is more, and it has been way more than two people who started dating two months ago, we've wasted a whole year, and I wasted 5 years before that, I'm done wasting my time!" He hadn't meant for it to sound like it did. He hated himself after seeing the frowning heartbroken look on her face after he said it, he wanted to take all her pain away, not cause her to be in any at all.

"So you moving to God knows what sort of warzone was your deceleration of love for me and I just carelessly wasted your time? Glad to know this is how much you care, I apologize about your precious time," she snapped. She chew on the inside of her cheek, hoping the physical annoyance would help distract from the mess she found herself in. She grabbed her purse and just tried to walk past him and simply storm out before any of them hurt each other any further.

Owen wasn't ready to give up just yet, he body blocked her from the door, and firmly yet gently held her by the shoulders. "Ok, stop, that is not what I meant. C'mon Amelia, you of all people should understand what it's like to lose your family at such a young age."

He thought it was smart, persuasive, but to Amelia, it was pure shocking, "You are NOT going to guilt me into having this kid!" She snatched he shoulder away from him, "Now get out of my way!" She said as she pushed forcefully to reach the door, where she said without stopping or turning around, "Actually, this makes it easier, I don't have to explain any relationship when I'm the next chief of surgery."

She wanted to get drunk. Maybe high. She wanted to forget. To stop thinking about him. To get wasted and have an easy one night stand with hot guys. All these cravings reminded her right where it got her when she complied to them, and it made her want to forget even more, it was a torturing endless cycle. She didn't know where to go, going back to that big haunting house was not an option, the last thing she needed was to watch Owen sadly walk in and end up sleeping on the couch, because there was no way she could even bare being near him right now. It was too late to go to Meredith, and she wasn't exactly as close to anyone here as she was with Addison or Charlotte back in LA. She tried crashing in an on call room but she couldn't sleep. She got up and decided to busy herself with anything she found in her way. After a while of wandering aimlessly around the hospital halls, she found herself in front of the newborns' NICU. She hadn't noticed the warm tears striding down her face, ruining her mascara.

"Are you okay?" A familiar friendly voice came asking from beside her

Amelia wiped her tears hastingly, and forced a fake smile at the sweet redhead, "Uh, yeah, I just, I'm fine." She nodded unconvincingly, trying to tell herself maybe if she said she was fine enough times she'd eventually be

April didn't push, she had no idea what would make Amelia cry while looking at a baby, so she simply approached the window and looked at the babies beside her. "I used to come here every day after Samuel died. I don't know why, maybe I thought it'd be a comfort that other babies are surviving even though mine didn't."

"It wasn't easy, you'll try to convince yourself that you're done, you don't want any more kids, but you come here, and you can't stop thinking about what your own baby would be doing if he was here now." Amelia replied helplessly full of melancholy, without looking away at from the window

April held the sob stuck in her throat and swallowed it hard, fighting the tears, dumbfounded at how accurately Amelia described what she was going through, "He would have been 1, taking his first steps," She couldn't help the break in her voice, and took in a deep shaking breath

"Mine would have been 4." The two women finally looked at each other, silently sharing a new but strong bond, it was a relief that someone understood, "at least you have Jackson, he's a good guy." This time it was Amelia's voice thickening, and she had to sigh heavily, and blink quickly multiple of times.

"He's perfect," April shook her head remorsefully, giving up against the tears, "and I was so ignorant and selfish, I wanted to find myself again after all of it instead of staying here beside him. This time I'm trying to do the right thing, maybe I don't need to go to war again, maybe being Chief here will be the thing I need to do."

"Wow, I'm sorry, I didn't realize.." Amelia didn't know how to comfort in such a situation, "Well, I'm sorry for being your competition, I can't promise I won't be brilliant." She tried to make light of the situation instead

April chuckled through the tears, "Wait, what?"

"Yeah, Owen adopted one of my patients and I'm pretty sure we just broke up and I'm running for chief now, so good life!" Amelia said like it was a hysterical joke, and started giggling sheepishly

"He's always wanted kids," April jested, joining the unexplainable giggling

The fell into frenzied roaring laughter for a few minutes until their stomachs hurt and they started remembering why they were laughing, and in a second, it wasn't so funny anymore. Their little manic session died down gradually, and the two women just stood there, looking at each other with sympathy.

"Hey, you should come over sometime, maybe we could put on fashion shows and make fun of the models?" April broke the silence

"Yeah, we could even dance it out," Amelia smirked

"What?" April smiled and raised an eyebrow curiously. Unfortunately her pager buzzed calling her to the ER before Amelia could try explaining

"Don't worry about it, we'll catch up later," Amelia excused her new friend as she nodded and jogged away. She took one last peek at the NICU before walking away, calculating that she may have around another hour or two to sleep before her new shift started.

 **A/N: So I realized I've completely messed up the timeline because I'm guessing it won't take two months for a hospital to start considering new candidates for their chief of surgery, and other things may be a little off, so I decided to remove the days and weeks and just let myself write, some periods of times will have to be skipped through. I hope you can get past this mistake, and I hope you like this chapter!**

 **Thank you so much for the previous reviews, and keep letting me know what you think xx**


	11. Chapter 11

**A/N:** **So this is longer than any chapter I've written, I don't know how to feel about that. I'm unsure about how my writing is getting, but I'm trying. I'm sorry I'm taking long to update.**

 **I hope you guys like this and as always I'd really like to know your thoughts on this!**

* * *

Amelia didn't get any real sleep, she basically laid on the uncomfortable on call bed staring at the ceiling blankly. The alarm set on her phone was useless, it only reminded her how she had to go on and face another day of angst. Every time she remembered it, it hit her all over again, was her happy healthy relationship with Owen now over? It sure seemed like it the previous night. Then again, how healthy and happy were they if he went behind her back to adopt her patient? It was an impossible situation, she understood what he did and she loves him for it, but she also hates him for it. She concluded to go and get coffee before it was time for rounds, and that would be enough to get her through.

As she was brewing the coffee, she heard someone come in the attending lounge. She didn't need to turn around to know it was Owen, she was too familiar with his heavy steps and she could feel his eyes on her, she hadn't anticipated her day to start this hard. Owen walked directly toward her and talked in a low voice, as if there was someone else in the room eavesdropping on them, "Amelia, you didn't come home last night." It was a curious concerned statement muffled by the tone of jealousy and distress.

She looked at him like she was staggered he actually dared to speak to her or ask her for any sort of clarification, "I'm sorry, are you actually talking to me?"

"Amy, we had a fight I get that, but you not coming home? I called Meredith, Arizona, Stephanie, I called the hospital, I even thought of calling Addison, where were you?" His immense heartache was being covered up by exasperation and a slight but evident hint of patronization.

"I'm sorry, a fight?" She narrowed her eyes at him growling, "You adopted a child, my patient, without even mentioning the idea to me!" Her emphasis was growing with each word, still unbelievable to her own self, " and don't you ever dare call me Amy again do you hear me! don't bother calling me at all for that matter," she had no regard to her loudening voice, she hadn't let herself dwell on how much she cared before this interaction. She grabbed her ready mug angrily and walked away slamming the door behind her.

On her way to start rounds and view the charts briefly, she saw Edwards at the counter and was horrified by the sight. "What the hell are you wearing?"

"Please don't be angry with me, you're amazing, neuro is amazing, I just need to let myself explore my whole potential before declaring my specialty," the 5th year resident rambled, hoping her mentor won't snap at her. Luckily, her attending had no energy to be mad at anyone more than she already is.

Amelia, already aggravated, breathed out heavily and retorted, "So you're leaving my for pink scrubs and babies, cool, seems like a trend these days."

Stephanie, confused about the last part of her superior's comment, tried to defend herself, "I was-"

She cut her off sharply, not needing to elaborate on the topic, "Edwards, it's fine." She smiled to reassure her student, "So who do I have on my service instead?"

"Deluca" she replied, content she wasn't screwed out of her chance in neuro

Amelia sighed, "the intern?"

"Yep, the hot one," she whispered jokingly, and Amelia's raised eyebrows were enough to tell that she was not amused

"Fine I'll take the baby duckling, just remember to not get attached to the vagina land, pink just doesn't suit you," Amelia jested and walked away with the tablet, leaving Stephanie to question herself and her new self discovering plan

She wasn't planning on going easy on the intern but she tried to be as kind as she could handle, "C'mon Deluca we have a long interesting day," she said sarcastically as she motioned for him to follow her in the hall, "What's first?"

The intern ran after her and started talking confidently in hope to charm her, "Dania Rafi, 4 year old female, you removed her massive ATRT tumor successfully with absolutely no post op complications, she finished her chemotherapy sessions 3 days ago, these are the repeat scans, it seems clear and ready to be discharged, and an adoption agency is coming in to take her today they just need you to sign her off," he fully informed with a smile

Amelia flinched at the mention of the adoption agency, it was happening too fast, did this mean Owen was already going to take her home? Or was he backing out? She secretly hoped he wouldn't back out on adopting this little girl, especially not because of her. "I can handle this on my own, you can handle any other post op patients I have," she was surprised when she looked up and found him still beside her, "do you have a problem?" she asked threateningly

"Oh, um no, it's just that, you only have one other stable patient, and I was hoping I could stay and help with all your cases and learn from you," he grinned at her charmingly, which almost fooled her, but just wasn't enough.

"I don't need an intern on this one and I certainly don't need a kiss ass," this cute intern was starting to push her buttons, "Go to the ER, find something, I don't care, just get out of my face," she waved her hand at him dismissingly which sent him running away. Sometimes it isn't so bad to be the crazy neurosurgeon with the dead brother, she thought to herself, it can be helpful.

She pulled herself together as she neared Dani's room, that little girl had an odd charm on Amelia, like her smile would make the world brighter in an instant. "Hey Dani!" Amelia beamed.

"Hey Amelia Badelia," Dania muttered the name Amelia had allowed, it usually made her giggle every time, though now, she seemed to be on the verge of crying.

" I have good news, you're no longer sick anymore, I can send you home, what's wrong?" Amelia tried to cheer her up

"But I don't wanna go home," she whined, her eyes filling with unshed tears

"Heyyy" Amelia said more softly as she sat on the kid's bed, "why not, you'll be done with the icky hospital food and go back to play," she forced a smile and hoped she believed it

"Papa is gone isn't he, he's not coming back? I don't wanna go home alone, I don't know how to pour my cereal, Papa always made my cereal," Dani's lips quivered and she failed to swallow and stifle the sobs

Amelia pulled Dania in for a hug, she knew too well what it felt to lose a parent at such a young age, but she couldn't imagine what it would have been like if she and her 4 siblings were left with no family at all. She was slightly surprised no one has talked to her about her grandpa's death yet, she assumed Owen had done so. She held her tightly and stroked her hair soothingly until her breathes became more steady. Her grip loosened as she felt Dania pull away slowly. The little girl looked at Amelia with wide hazel eyes and begged with heartbreaking puppy eyes, "Can I pweeze stay here with you and Doctor O?"

Amelia felt a sudden wave of emotion burning her heart, and she let what her mind has been avoiding to make its way to her conscious thought; she wanted to say yes, she wanted Dania to stay with them, the image that Owen had drawn for her last night of them being a family crept to her imagination and her tear buds seemed to be overworking. She held the tears in and opened her mouth to say something, a logical explanation that would not make her the bad guy for Dania, a little scared she'd say yes accidently instead. However, before she could voice anything, the lady from the adoption agency interrupted with Owen following behind her. Amelia roughly wiped her face and took in a deep but shaky breath, hoping that it wasn't drawing attention.

Owen quickly broke the silence to avoid the obvious awkwardness of the situation, "This is Dr Shepherd, the leading doctor on Dania's case. Dr Shepherd this is Mary Harrison, she's here to find Dania a foster family," Owen paused awkwardly as he watched the two women shake hands pleasantly and Amelia's gaze shifted to him worriedly when hearing about finding a foster family.

Amelia placed her sweaty palms in her coat pocket and tried to not look at Owen too much and act as professional as she could, "Oh, I thought Dr Hunt was adopting her, I may have misheard the news." She kept the very obviously fake smile as she subtly asked like it was something everyone has heard

"Oh yes, but it's going to take some time to go through the paper work and the interviews so Dania is going to need a nice cozy place to stay for the mean time," Mary responded, all with a wide grin and a chirpy voice, "so is she ready to go?"

Amelia shot Owen a quick secretive glance before returning to Mary and holding up the scans again. She acted like she was completely immersed in analyzing the clean scan and tried to look concerned. She distracted Mary by rambling out random medical jargon with complicated words and spoke fast, Owen was barely able to suppress his giggles when he realized exactly what Amelia was doing. She was sophisticatedly and over informatively saying that Dania was healthy and there was a slight chance she might have picked up a common flu. Mary however had no idea what was happening, scared and confused by the big words Amelia was using, she furrowed her eyebrows and asked what that meant. Keeping a very straight face on Amelia translated her words to Mary in a simple order, "Oh it's probably nothing serious, but it's best to keep Dania here a little more, better safe than sorry." She was trying effectively to stay sounding serious and ignore Owen's face from behind.

Mary nodded with the reassurance and approached Dani gently to talk to her. Amelia excused herself out of the room and Owen mouthed her a silent 'thank you' at the door, she rolled her eyes and unintentionally brushed her shoulder with his, being reminded by his tensing muscles visible even under scrubs was the last thing she needed for now. She walked out into the hall way and paced rapidly in no certain direction. Catching herself smiling, she felt stupid, her actions made no sense to her. Her mind was completely elsewhere that she didn't notice Arizona in front of her and bumped right into her colleague.

"Oh god, I'm sorry, are you okay?" Amelia rubbed her temple and scowled

"Yeah, yeah I'm fine, are you?"

Amelia nodded and the two froze and glared at each other for a moment before falling into chuckles and giggles together. They continued walking by each other and Arizona wanted to start small talk and unfortunately picked the worst topic, "I saw Owen talking with someone from an adoption agency, are you two getting a baby?" she whispered excitedly

Amelia rubbed her temple and half smirked as she replied flatly, "Owen is."

Arizona turned to Amelia to try and understand more from her expression, "Wha- what?" she hushed herself down, "Why? I mean.. what?"

"He adopted my patient without telling me, I could swear there was nothing on the refrigerator, can you imagine? She quipped

"Wow, doesn't seem like Owen.." Arizona scowled

"Yeah except the baby is a 4 year old girl who needed brain surgery and then her only left family member died," Amelia further clarified with guilt, "I'm not wrong for being mad at him for not letting me in on this, right?"

"No you're not," Arizona sympathized with her friend

"Then why do I feel so guilty?" she disclosed, whining

"Because you love him, and her. I know how you feel."

Amelia looked at Arizona softly and remembered Mark, they might not mention him on a daily basis but they all always remembered him. Sofia would smile or say something witty and they all knew where it came from. Amelia tried to redirect the attention from herself, "Have you talked to Callie yet?"

"We are moving back together actually"

"Go calzona! Are you getting remarried? I make an awesome maid of honor," Amelia raved

Arizona chuckled and shook her head, "it's way less exciting than that. I'm moving back in for parenting and economical reason, I couldn't live with Meredith forever and it's better for Sofia when both parents are in the same house, we did it before we got divorced, it's still the same" she reported sadly

Amelia's pager interrupted their conversation, "You're still-ex-wife is paging me to the OR, we'll catch up, okay?" Arizona nodded with a sad smile and watched Amelia run off.

….

Owen had arranged for it to be a light day, knowing he'll have to spend a lot of time with the social worker following him and analyzing him. Kepner was left in charge of the ER but Owen pretended to get a page so he could get a break from chirping Mary bombarding him with shrink questions. He dared not go to the ER and get distracted by the chaos it's always in. He opted to go check in with his friend in the ortho department. He found Callie in an X-Ray room, grinning peacefully at the lights falling on her face. She noticed her friend walking in and turned her head to smile at him and turn back to admire the injury she was going to fix.

"What are you so happy about?" Owen bantered, a little jealous

"This joint is completely shattered and the Humerus is sticking out of her skin, completely out of proportion," Callie shared with amusement

"Don't sound so gleeful," he chortled

Callie chuckled, "well what are you sulking about? Hey you can scrub in and tell me about it, I'm going to insert a fully functioning purely titanium joint and give this women full function back, that should cheer you up."

Owen agreed and went to manage his schedule and let Mary know before he came back to meet Callie in surgery.

"So what's bothering you, Hunt? It has to do with that women following you around all day today doesn't it?"

Owen sighed, unsure where to start, finally deciding to share the root of his sorrow, "I think Amelia broke up with me."

"What?!" Callie reacted a little too loudly, she went back to her work and continued the conversation, quieter, "Please tell me you did not cheat on her, is that who the women you're with today is?"

"What? No, of course not, I didn't cheat on her, I wouldn't," the notion made Owen sick to his stomach

"Okay, good, then what's the deal?" she was still clueless

"I adopted one of our patients.. without telling her," he said, toneless.

Callie looked up at him and froze, this time her reaction wasn't expressed by words, she just eyed him for a long time glowering at him before returning her focus to the severed arm. "Why the hell would you do that?"

"I screwed up, but this kid, she lost everyone, and she's just.. she's my daughter, I know it, I don't know how to explain it, and Amelia, she's furious, but today she.. she helped me keep her a little longer, and what does that mean?" perplexed was an understatement for what Owen was going through

"It seems to me like your problem isn't the adoption, it's the communication," Callie pondered loudly.

"Hey, you paged?" Amelia walked in the OR, holding an untied mask over her face

"You paged her?" Owen scolded his friend in a muttered whisper

"Yeah, I wanted a consult on the nerve function, scrub in and join us Shepherd," Callie replied to Amelia, ignoring Owen.

3 doctors were not really needed regardless of how bloody the situation actually was. Owen stepped back and stood beside Amelia as she assisted, watching the delicate procedure closely. He cleared his throat and attempted to clear the air, ending up only adding to the uneasy silence, "How has your day been, Dr Shepherd?"

"Oh, splendid," she answered immediately scornfully.

The edginess of the atmosphere grew, Amelia continued to work pretending that she was very concentrated, even though her role in this surgery was minimal, who was she kidding, she could do it in her sleep, she was just cautiously avoiding any possible conversation, certain that Owen would have told Callie by now.

Owen was not satisfied, he scooted closer to Amelia and spoke in a tone audible only to her and barely to Callie, "This isn't right, you should keep the house, I'll find something."

Amelia had no regard for Owen's hushed manner and replied with annoyance, "Oh really? And when Mary asks you where you'll keep Dani you'll show her an on call room? Give me a break, if you ruined _us_ for this, then you better make it freaking work with this kid." She sneakily glanced around the stillness that surrounded her and felt the glares on her, she hated people staring at her. She checked her work one last time before tagging herself out, "Nerves seem intact and in place, my work here is done."

The rest of the day was uneventful but tiring for both of them. Amelia considered her options as she walked toward her car, half asleep. She had no idea where to go, she knew she'd like to go to a bar, but she had something to lose still, so she went to a meeting instead. After an inspiring session, she decided to call her realtor to start actually looking for her own place, and pick up an extra night shift for now.


	12. Chapter 12

Amelia ended up mostly thankful for taking that extra night shift, an aneurysm clip she had scheduled for the next day suffered subarachnoid hemorrhage and she had to go in urgently and repaired it by endovascular aneurysm coiling, without even leaving a scar. Her adventure wasn't done then, a group of raving teenagers came in, one of them had a massive head injury because he was trying to stand on a bar with a bicycle without a helmet, causing him to fall on a bottle of tequila. She got pulled in for another 6 hours, the adolescent kept dying on her and if it were anyone else, they would have gave up on him, but she wasn't anyone else, she was kickass neurosurgeon Amelia Shepherd, determined to carry on her brother's legacy with lost causes. After she saved two lives in very long surgeries, saying that she was drained was an understatement. Unfortunately, her next day had already started. Estimating a few minutes before anyone would start to reprehend her, she heavily carried herself to the cafeteria. She set her phone on the table and rested her head on her arms, telling herself she'd just rest her eye for a second.

Several minutes later, a familiar voice tried to wake her up, "Amelia? Amelia, seriously are you sleeping here?"

When that didn't work, a small hand shook her gently, causing her to mumble, "mhmm?"

Seconds later, her phone rang loudly, and being right next to her head, she jumped up to a sitting position acutely and grabbed her phone with fear of being paged. Realizing it was Meredith next to her who called her phone to wake her, she breathed out with relief and irritation.

"You know there are on call rooms for that," Meredith said while laughing at Amelia's state as she grew alert

"My next shift just started, I don't need sleep, I'm just.. a little tired," she refused to give in to her physical state

"Hey, I heard that you guys are adopting a kid, congratulations! Why didn't you tell me?" Meredith remembered the news she was hearing all around the hospital

"Because Owen is the one adopting," she was growing exasperated by having to tell her friends what was happening, she hated Owen for putting her in this situation

"What? Are you breaking up?" Meredith was almost mad

Amelia's eyes became glassy with the answer, "It seems like it," she managed to whisper

Meredith reached out and held her sisters hand tightly, "That son of a bitch?" she half asked

Amelia smiled and shook her head slightly, "No, it's actually.. I kind of get it. I mean, I want kids, I like kids and they like me, I'm good with kids, but this girl, she's just something else, I feel overprotective of her, and.. well, I don't know how to quite put it into words, but it's different with her. I guess it was the same for Owen.."

Meredith was puzzled, she grimaced, not really comprehending what that meant, "You're not mad at him for adopting her?"

She chuckled at the irony, "I'm not." The truth is, she would have probably asked him to adopt her as well. The whole problem was that he didn't think of discussing the decision with her, he just went ahead and did it. It felt like he was disregarding their whole relationship, she felt like her opinion didn't matter to him, like _she_ didn't matter to him, that was what really hurt.

Still not fully understanding the situation, Meredith wanted to help. She knew Amelia and Owen weren't the easiest couple, Cristina left him with a big complex for not agreeing to any decision he makes, and Amelia was naturally stubborn. "Where are you staying?"

Amelia suddenly remembered and rubbed her temple in regret, "I got caught up with the surgeries, I missed the appointment with my realtor. I can't keep crashing here."

"Come stay with me," she seriously offered

"Really?" Amelia raised one eyebrow, wanting to accept the offer but feeling a little like a burden

"Yeah absolutely," Meredith reassured without a second thought, "you could help me with the kids, and I'll listen to your speech for tomorrow."

"Shoot, the chief showdown was tomorrow," she remembered one more thing to worry about, "I was kinda hoping to win them over with my wit and charm."

"Oh that'll do it," Meredith chortled, "but I think you should keep a speech prepared just in case."

"Dr Shepherd, Dr Edwards assigned me on your service today too, how can I help today," the attractive intern- Andrew- interrupted, standing in front of Amelia, and then became clumsily aware of Meredith eying him as well, "Hello Dr Grey, how do you do?" he greeted her, causing her to raise both eyebrows at him

"DeLuca," Amelia pondered and narrowed her eyes at him, "I'm feel like being generous today." she grinned, catching the opportunity to teach him a thing or two while she relaxes, "There's a case being flown over here all the way from Iowa, they requested me specifically," she stated arrogantly, "I need you to read her chart, memorize it if you must, examine her, do all the necessary work up and come up with a diagnosis, and maybe scrub in with me to watch, do you think you can handle it?"

He was overwhelmed, "You want me to take over a brain mystery?

"Unless you don't want it."

"No! Yes, yes! Thank you Dr Shepherd, so much, for this opportunity!" he beamed gratefully

"Go, before I change my mind," she ordered firmly and laughed with her sister as they watched him jog away

…

Left with overlooking Andrew's process through the updated chart on her tablet, she was adjusting to her light day. She received a few texts from Richard about needing to discharge her unnecessary patients and free some space, she knew exactly who that referred to. Guilty and out of excuses, she sauntered sadly with the signed discharge papers and stepped into her room, to find Dania sleeping soundly. Staring at her with warmth, Amelia contemplated who should she give the discharge papers to, dodging the obvious answer (Owen) and wondering why she hasn't seen Mary anywhere around since the previous day.

Owen, somewhat stalking Amelia in the midst of his work, observed her as she entered Dania's room. He followed in quietly, and stood silently looking over both of them. Even when Amelia spoke, he wasn't sure if she was talking to herself or if she knew that he was there.

"Look at her, she looks so peaceful. No one this young could possibly deserve this. It's hard to believe that this is the same girl that was giggling and fidgeting when she was in chemo. And she has that sparkle in her eye, and when she talks, it's the most adorable thing, I almost want to wake her up to see it. She's perfect. Every little girl deserves a good dad." Amelia said in a low tone, to no one in particular. Then she turned around and looked at Owen with glassy eyes and a smile barely visible, "She deserves you." She handed him the discharge papers and walked out, "Give those to Mary for me. She's good to go."

…

"This room seems well prepared for a child, good work, Dr Hunt," Mary noticed, impressed

"Thank you," he grinned, "I want Dani to feel comfortable in her own home." He stood by as Mary scanned the house

"Why are you still single?" she asked bluntly

"Excuse me?" Owen feared this part of the interview

"You're a doctor, a good looking one, you stepped down from your position as chief or surgery for what was stated to be 'personal reasons', what does that mean?"

"I wanted to have less paperwork and do more to help in surgery, my main passion," seeing that she was not convinced with his answer, he decided to confess, "I'm in love.. with a colleague."

"Dania's doctor, right?" Mary guessed, a little too enthusiastic

He chuckled at that guess, "Is it really that obvious?"

"Oh, I did my homework."

"Listen, I'm going to be honest; I don't know what will happen between me and Dr Shepherd, but my main focus right now is Dania.." he paused for a bit, unsure if he belittles his feelings for Amelia he'll give the wrong idea, and if he revealed the long story he'd seem unfit, "I really don't know what to tell you, I'm hopeful it'll work out but I guess right now I'm just.. single. I'll be sure to let you know as soon as that changes, if it does."

Mary glared at him from head to toe, silently thinking, thinking about how this man, despite his mostly tricky love life, he was obviously caring and keen to be a father, especially when it came to Dania in particular. After what seemed to be forever, she opened her file and signed the paper on top, and gave it to him, "You have custody of Dania, for now. The judge still has to reread your file and there's going to be a hearing, but I wouldn't worry much if I were you." Mary smiled and winked. Owen beamed and thanked her profusely, she grinned at him as he walked her to the door, leaving him with all his thoughts about his daughter and the woman that he loves.

…

Checking her electronic chart, Amelia noticed that it hasn't been updated with a while. She rolled her eyes, revaluating her decision of letting the intern try to diagnose a probable acoustic neuroma. She mentally noted that she'd give him another hour to check with her. As she strolled the hospital halls, brainstorming what she could say in her speech, she became distracted as she heard the intern's voice not so far away. She froze and over heard the conversation between him and Stephanie.

"Shepherd is crazy."

"Every genius is a little crazy. She's a genius."

Amelia smiled, Stephanie's response fed her ego.

"Yesterday she shooed me away and now she gives me this case to handle on my own, and I don't even think it's surgical."

She rolled her eye from behind the wall, typical untrained intern misdiagnosis, she thought.

"That's even better, she'll probably find a way to cure it surgically. Check the patient's symptoms again and tell Shepherd what you think, don't be a chicken." Edwards prompted

"I'm not a chicken!" he defended, "I thought I was your favorite baby duckling." Andrew flirted with a raspy voice

"Something like that," the resident flirted back, "stop it, not here," she scolded, though Amelia couldn't tell for what, "go kick that medical mystery's ass, and send me the chart if you get really stuck,"

As she heard footsteps walk away, Amelia stepped back slightly and walked to the adjacent hall to meet her favorite resident. She cleared her throat as she approached, making her aware of her presence.

Stephanie turned around and greeted happily, "Oh hey Dr Shepherd."

"Edwards," Amelia greeted back with a small sly grin, "So you put DeLuca on my service today.. again."

"Yeah, I figured since I'm off for a while I'll give you a good replacement, plus he's not at all hard on the eye," she jested

"So you and DeLuca are a thing now? Really, Edwards? I'd thought you'd like sharper guys," she teased

Thrown off guard, Stephanie failed miserably at denying and acting surprised, "What? No, not at all, it's nothing like that. I just think he.. has potential, that's all," she shrugged

Amelia snickered, amused, "Yeah, right."

…

After dealing with an incoming trauma, and ordering for the patient to be prepped for an emergency surgery, Owen took a few minutes to hurry and check on Dania. He entered her room to find her playing with some barbies he had given her from her collected items from her grandpa's apartment. "How's my favorite star?" Owen grinned as he paced in and tickled her playfully.

She laughed and squirmed and then said joyously, "happy! But miss playin' with my fweinds," she pouted, shutting her eyes forcefully, and crossed her arms dramatically

"Well how about, I take you to daycare? You'll make a lot of new friends and get to play a lot more!"

"fo' real?" she widened her eyes and hopped in her bed joyously

He tittered at the movement and replied just as eagerly, "yes really, and guess what? You can come with me home and stay with me, I can even let you sleep in my big bed tonight!"

"No mo' hostital?" She hopped more vigorously

"No more hospital," Owen echoed

"and I'll stay with you fo'evah?" the little girl begged

"Yes you can stay with me forever, I can be your daddy," he carefully suggested, he had discussed this with her, how he was going to take her home and give her a new room, but it all was with careful doubt, and Dania then suggested that they be best friends, he respectfully said yes, wanting to give her all the time she needed to adjust to him fully.

"YAY!" Dani exclaimed and threw her short arms around Owen in a hug.

Owen was thrilled with Dania's reaction and he quickly coached her to wear her shoes and get going to daycare as he carried her bag that contained a few things other than what he had already moved to her new room at the house.

Dani hoped and danced as Owen paced holding her hand. When they reached the elevator, Amelia was there waiting as well. Already familiar with her, Dania ran over to Amelia and shouted her name, giggling, "Amelia Badelia!"

Amelia smiled a big toothy smile and impulsively bent down and picked up the running girl. She propped her up her hip and pinched her nose teasingly.

"Did you know docto' O is now daddy!" she threw her hands up above her head cheerfully

"Woah! That's awesome!" Amelia feigned gleeful surprise

"Yep, and I'll sleep in big bed!" Dania thickened her voice to emphasis her excitement about the big bed

Amelia laughed radiantly and looked at Owen who was just standing near, witnessing the whole scene happily, "They granted me temporary custody, there's still a hearing session this weekend but Mary says it's mostly a formality," he felt the need to explain even though Amelia didn't ask.

She nodded and smiled coyly, "Congratulations," she said sincerely

"Thank you," he replied awkwardly, still waiting for the elevator and unable to continue the conversation. His pager buzzed and he looked worried and at loss

"What is it?"

"My patient, he's crashing, I need to go," he looked up at Dani and felt it too much to ask Amelia to take the child he adopted behind her back

"Then go, I'll take this princess to daycare," She told him as she looked back at Dania and grinned

"Are you sure?" Owen asked again, feeling culpable, but already handing Amelia the light bag

"Yes, don't worry, just go," she encouraged, taking the bag

"Thank you," he started jogging toward the OR, "Thank you so much!" he half yelled as he ran to his patient

"Let's take you to daycare, and daddy will pick you at the end of the day, how about that?" she suggested, still holding the girl on her hip. The girl nodded and snuggled into Amelia's grasp.

After Amelia dropped her off at daycare and introduced her to her nephew, she was paged by her intern. Curious to see the promised potential Edwards talked about, she went to check what he had to say.

"Dr DeLuca, I assume you've reached a diagnosis?" she told him as he waited anxiously next to a nurse's station near the patient's room

"Uh, yes, the patient presented with tinnitus, and dizziness, and hearing loss, all indicate to Ménière's disease," he faked confidence

"Ménière's disease.." Amelia was unimpressed, "So what do you want to do from here?"

"I would prescribe water pills and send her home," he was almost shivering, intimidated by her.

"Dead." Amelia said flatly

"Excuse me?" Andrew glowered

"Dead, you sent her home and now the patient's dead. Try again," Amelia ordered

"but-"

"Did you even think of an Electronystagmography? How did you so surely diagnosed Ménière's disease, did you even examine her?"

The intern fidgeted around, searching in his brain what else this could be.

"Well?" she asked bored and impatient

"There are no other symptoms, brain tumors always present with other symptoms, there's nothing else wrong with this woman other than her twitching eyebrow," He thought out loud

Amelia turned and raised her eyebrows at him, observing a realization washing over the intern

"She has a skull base tumor!" he screamed festively, quickly realizing by the look his attending gave him how inappropriate that was, "Sorry, I'm sorry.. she has a skull base tumor, it could be a pituitary tumor, an acoustic neuroma, or.. a meningioma?" he listed

"Are you asking me or are you telling me?"

"Telling. I'm sorry."

"Stop apologizing."

"I'm sor- okay."

"Now what?"

"Now.. Um.. the blood work rules out a pituitary tumor, a meningioma is unlikely but we should order a head iMRI," he answered hesitantly

Amelia nodded and stared at the intern for a moment before ordering, "Go on then! You've wasted enough time already," she partially scolded and partially praised

Nearing the end of the day Andrew caught Amelia as she headed to change her street clothes, exhausted and grateful she was going to finally sleep in a comfortable bed and not an on call room tonight.

"Dr Shepherd!" he called her, "The brain scans came back!"

Amelia glared at him and yawned, snatching the scans from him tiredly, "An acoustic neuroma, what's your treatment plan," she blinked repeatedly, her eyes heavy.

" A translabyrinthine craniotomy. Do I get to scrub in?"

"Nope, the patient is 59, we're going with a less invasive surgery, schedule a Neuroendoscopy for tomorrow, now get out of my face, see you in surgery." She waved her hand dismissively at him, shooing him away with another yawn parting her lips. The intern beamed with success and walked away proudly, hurrying to schedule the surgery.

…

Owen entered the elevator to see Amelia leaning against the railing with her eyes barely open. She straightened her back and cleared her throat when she saw him. He walked in tentatively, with Dania's head resting on his shoulder in deep sleep.

Amelia tentatively walked closer and tenderly stoked Dani's soft cheek, "you must be really tired, it's been a helluva couple of days huh? It's all going to be fine," she planted a kiss on her tiny fingers and stole a glance at Owen.

His heart dropped at Amelia's words, wondering if she was talking about them as well. He was overanalyzing, he told himself. Still, the proximity between his body and hers almost broke him, he'd missed her more than anything, he wanted to hug her, hold her, give her the world. "You're her mother too," he told her in a matter-of-factly tone, his voice almost breaking.

She felt her breath catch and her eyes tear up for the first time in days. Since their fight, she'd been mad, incensed, but not quite _sad. I'm her mother_ , she thought, unhappiness settling deep in her, for wanting to be with her daughter the first day out of the hospital, but too proud to forget about her rage at Owen. The elevator doors opened to the lobby, she looked at the floor, not wanting him to see her shed her tears, "Goodnight Owen," she said shakily as she walked out and hurried to her car before anyone can see her about to break down.

 **A/N:** **For some reason, I find it much easier to write focusing on Amelia instead of Owen, although I love both very much, I think it's the same for many other fanfiction writers too. I hope it doesn't bother you.**

 **Reviews are greatly appreciated!**


	13. Chapter 13

Meredith woke up terrified. She looked at the digital watch to see the numbers 8:30 shining brightly in fluorescent green with an eerie quietness ringing in her ears. Jumping to the worst when the million questions flooded her ('how come I wasn't woken up by Ellie crying?', 'where are Zola and Bailey bugging me every morning?'), she sprung out of bed and almost fell down as she ran down the stairs. To her relief and gratitude, she found Zola and Bailey in the kitchen enjoying waffles, and Ellie in her high chair and her aunt feeding her baby food. She sighed and smiled at the scene.

"Morning," Amelia greeted happily as she glanced over and fed another spoon to Ellis

"Morning," Meredith replied, half questioning her reality, "How did you- I mean why did you- um- waffles?"

Amelia giggled at Meredith's disorientation and handed her a plate of waffles, "Here have this, it'll make you feel better."

"Amelia, this is- wow. You didn't have to do all this," Meredith said, not complaining, as she happily took the waffle and moaned at the first bite

"Don't worry about it. Kids are much easier to handle when you're the cool Aunt. Isn't that right? You love your auntie, don't you Ell?" Amelia retorted in baby voice as she fed her niece the last bit in the bowl, "Plus, your kids here are great listeners, they gave me some solid points to add to my presentation, it has a lot more glitter and unicorns now."

"Oh shoot, I was supposed to help you with your speech for being chief, I'm so sorry, I just came home and barely carried myself to bed," Meredith tried to excuse herself, "But I can help now, I don't have work till the afternoon," she tried to offer

"Mer, relax. It's fine, you're gonna be blown away by awesomeness for the first time now, like every other board member, but now, I gotta go to work," Amelia replied as she grabbed her purse and started to head out

…

With her being used to sleeping in for the last few weeks she was stuck in the hospital bed, Owen had to wake up Dani so he could take her to daycare. She woke up crabby and completed her sleep deeply in the short car ride, it was clear that his daughter was no morning person. His heart softened at adorable sight, but he decided he had to be the good and bad parent in one, until he got Amelia back anyway. He dwelt on that thought as he woke up Dania with a kiss on the cheek and a gentle shrug. He could never imagine Amelia not forgiving them, and staying in their current state, whenever he dreamt of the future, Amelia was impossible to exclude.

When he reached to daycare, it was closed. Owen was confused, as far as he'd known, the daycare was open 24/7 for surgeons on call. As he stood there, trying to peek through the doors or figure something out, Richard passed by him.

"Hey, Richard!" he called, "how come the daycare is closed?"

"How should I know?" he answered dismissively and carried on walking

"Where do the kids go now?" his voice was a little louder, though aware that no one would answer him

"Hunt," Jackson Avery came from behind him, "Is everything alright?"

"No actually. Why is the daycare closed?" he said, a little too angrily than needed

"It's closed until 3pm, they sent texts to all parents last night," Jackson calmly replied

"I didn't get anything."

"Hm.. you're a new parent, maybe they didn't get to transfer it to the electronic files."

"What now?" Owen asked himself more than Jackson, as he rubbed Dani's dark brown hair while she clutched to his pants with one hand.

"I can take her," Jackson offered on a whim

"What?" Owen hoped that Jackson would confirm proposal

"I mean, I'm good with kids, I have a light day," he shrugged, "I could take her."

Owen's pager already started buzzing, it was just for a consult, but he still had to change to scrubs too, so he accepted gratefully and thanked his colleague multiple times as he walked away.

…

Amelia arrived to the OR board and pushed her Neuroendoscopy a couple of hours later, so she could have time to review her speech and go over the research. She noticed her favorite resident hovering around her. So she smirked and commented without turning to her, "Edwards, nice to see you came to your senses and got rid of the pink scrubs."

"Well, um, yeah, I heard about you removing an acoustic neuroma through a Neuroendoscopy and I thought-"

"Oh no, you hang out in the safe vagina valley until an awesome neuro case comes along and now you want in. Nope, I'm gonna take DeLuca on this one, he deserves to learn."

"Oh come on Dr Shepherd," Stephanie whined like a little kid whining for a lollipop, "I basically "diagnosed the case for him, and I'm a 5th year who just declared neuro as my specialty."

Amelia bit her cheek, hating to admit that her student was right, "Fine, then walk your intern through the procedure, if you're gonna be a neurosurgeon you have to learn how to teach too."

….

The patient finally out of the woods and a nurse assigned to watch his vitals and update the doctors on the case, Owen finally had 15 minutes to spare and go check on Dania to take her to daycare. To add to his ongoing fatherly concern, he found Avery in the ER, and his daughter nowhere near him.

"Avery, where's my kid?" he asked, worried and about to throw a fit

"Oh, Dani? Yeah she's such sunshine," Avery said, still concentrating on the pile of papers in front of him

"Where _is_ she?" Owen asked more demanding and firm, still controlling his temper.

Noticing the unsettled tone, Jackson looked up and addressed the question with more care "I got pulled to an emergency, I left her with April, she's fine."

Owen started pacing the hospital halls for April and paged her 911 so he could find see his child for himself, this was now an emergency in his book. In minutes that seemed to be years to him, April came running to him, "Chief- uh- sorry, Dr Hunt, what's the emergency?"

"Where's my daughter?"

"Excuse me?"

"My daughter, Kepner. Dania, my 4 year old, Jackson said she was with you," Owen asked again, barely holding on to his patience

"Oh, yeah. She's with nurse Tyler on peds floor, probably in an exam room, great kid by the way," she smiled at him, but he was already gone

Agitated and his self control slight to none existent, he stormed in to the peds floor and slapped his arms on the counter of the nurse's station and demanded to know where his daughter was. Tyler, offended but intimidated, informed him she was in the exam room right behind him. With undying fear and worry until he sets his eyes on Dani, he opened the door and praying he won't find someone else to redirect him again. The open door revealed his daughter finally catching up to her lost hours of sleep on the examination bed and Amelia beside her mumbling incoherent medical jargon like a lullaby, it was a precious moment to behold.

"Shh," Amelia shushed him before he made any noise

He walked in and closed the door, more attentive to not making any sudden sound.

"She was passed between doctors all day, I figured she could use some peace, and I could use someone to fall asleep to my plan of surgery and future chief staff," Amelia explained, not needing to look at Owen to see the questions on his face, to how she oddly seemed to end up taking care of 'his' kid.

"Big surgery and presentation, I heard. Good luck for today.. not that you need it, I mean you're brilliant- uh.." he muttered awkwardly

"Thank you," she said dryly, saving him the trouble

"Thank you," he insisted, "for watching her, I appreciate it."

She looked at him as a wave of a new kind of pain hit her harshly. He was thanking her like a distant acquaintance watching _his_ daughter for 5 minutes. She was confused to say the least, considering he had told her that Dani was hers a couple of days ago. Taking in a shaky breath she hadn't realized she was holding, she looked anywhere but at him and nodded politely, "I should, um, I should go." Was all she was able to say without lashing out at him.

He stared at her as she avoided his gaze and turned for the door. He watched her petite curvy figure and could notice her stretching her fingers, that was a thing she'd do when she was upset, he knew that, he knew her all too well, and he was afraid that if he didn't say anything now, he might actually lose his chance of forgiveness. This was it, it was his chance to pour it out, to try and earn back his way to the bliss and love she gave him.

"Amelia wait!" She froze. "I love you. I know you love me too, but you won't say it, you're too proud, and that's what I love about you, what I hate too. I love you and I love Dania, and if you don't want to admit the same about me that's fine, but you know we share Dania, we're not even.. I don't know where we stand, but even like this we're powerless with her, so just imagine what it would be like, me, you, and our family. Amelia, you must forgive me at one point, please don't leave me miserable like this." he stopped, doubtful of his words, uncertain if it was romantic or straight out disastrous, it sounded a little like a married couple keeping it together for the kid.. it sounded better in his mind, he thought. Her back still turned to him, he could record no reaction, was she mad? Fed up? Convinced? Did it work? Did it make it worse? He couldn't stand the timorousness, "Amelia, please, just look at me. Please." It was nothing short of a beg

He had all reactions in mind, except the expression she had on her face. She turned to him, mouth slightly agape, eyes glassy, brow wrinkled, and for her, it was like the cat got her tongue. Her ability to form comprehensible words was suspended.

"Dr Shepherd!" A voice interrupted urgently, "It's Kerry Jefferson, the acoustic neuroma patient."

 **A/N: Thank you so much for the reviews and feedback, it's really motivating. I appreciate all possible constructive criticism and suggestions or any comment you have at all, so just keep letting me know what you think of my work please!**

 **(I do some research every time before I involve a medical case in a storyline, it's really nice to see someone enjoying it, I know it's probably pretty inaccurate, but for it's still interesting sometimes)**


	14. Chapter 14

An atypical long lost notion recurred to Owen. The vents. He suddenly sensed a peculiar urge to go there. He tried to think back to the last time he was there.. who was he kidding, he knew exactly when was the last time he stood there; it was right before things started with Amelia, right before he noticed the gift that was sent right in his hands and he was oblivious to. For a long moment, he felt guilt sink in him. He was remorseful he had wasted time not caring to notice the woman, who he was now certain was the love of his life, when she was right in front of him, how could he have wasted days he could have been happy with her? But that was not where the guilt came from. For the first time in a long time, he missed Cristina. The guilt was partially because he felt like he was cheating on Amelia (although technically, nothing tied him to her), and the latter reason was because he realized he hasn't remembered his ex-wife in so long, she helped him through the hardest part of his readjustment, and he didn't miss her anymore. All this confusion was what probably caused the unexplainable unforeseen need of going to the vents.

The first thing that nicked his focus was the sound of loud shallow breaths that was in rhythm with the tumultuous noise of the vents. He unfortunately knew who that voice belonged to too well, yet he walked in further just to see for himself, Amelia Shepherd, curled up against the wall, eyes wide and blank.

…

"What the hell happened?" she roared as she entered the room, Edwards was already performing CPR and DeLuca followed her in with a crash cart.

"Sudden cardiac arrest, is this because of the tumor?"

"Charge to 260," Amelia barked as she rubbed the paddles and ignored Edwards reasoning, "Clear!" the body jerked up lifelessly and the women flat lined again. "Charge to 300," she ordered, "C'mon Kerry, don't die on me," she muttered under her breath as she watched the monitor anxiously after the second shock.

"Sinus rhythm," the intern stated the obvious as the screens beeped normally again.

Amelia stood their sternly, looking at the unconscious body. She took out her penlight from her coat pocket and shone it on the woman's eyes. "She's brain dead, prepare the family." She said solemnly then walked out the room and her resident followed suit.

"Dr. Shepherd, I had some questions, did the acoustic neuroma cause this?" Stephanie hadn't realized that this was the worse time to approach her superior.

"No, Dr Edwards," Amelia snapped, dejected and unimpressed, "she was 59 and prone to blood clots, she had a heart attack which caused cerebral hypoxia, with the tumor, the brain didn't last without oxygen. You're supposed to be my fellow by next year, now I'm seriously reconsidering that."

"I'm sorry, if there's anything I could do-"

"No, there isn't. She's dead, she's gone, so you can go check if she's an organ donor, maybe save the next life and not screw it up." Her burst was uncalled for, she knew it, but it was too many things put on her plate and needed to be handled in one day. After the resident walked away half-running, Amelia realized Owen was standing behind her watching the whole thing. She rolled her eyes, remembering his disheartening proclamation of love. She turned away as he came over.

"That was a little harsh, don't you think?" his approach to her felt compulsive, he had little to no self control when it came to her

"She can take it." she couldn't get herself to look at him, not after what he said, not without falling apart, and she needed to keep it together today.

"Amelia, are-"

He was cut off by her looking anywhere but him and snapping indifferently as she ran away from him – both figuratively and literally, "I'm fine, Dr. Hunt."

…

"16 year old female, GSW to the chest and both legs, she twice on the way," the paramedic presented the incoming trauma

"Page Pierce and Torres," Owen ordered as he strolled the girl in.

She had to go straight to the OR, the shots on both knees were through and through but the bullet was still in the poor kid's heart. Owen and Maggie worked on the heart as Callie tried to salvage function with Jo.

"Our work here is almost done, how are you doing Dr Torres?" Maggie asked

"The patella is completely shattered, there's nothing much we can do," Callie shared as she cleaned the wound internally

"What about a knee replacement?" Owen tried

"The damage to the tibia and femur is too extensive, it won't work," disempowerment was clear in her voice, "I'll have to close her and wait for her parents to get consent for an amputation."

At the scrub sinks, Owen washed forcibly, he almost hurt himself.

Callie scowled at him when she noticed, "I never thought you'd be the passive aggressive guy."

"It's just.. how can someone walk in and shoot a girl for not going out with him? You don't hurt the people that you love, who does that?"

She nodded in compassion before replying calmly, "Someone sick, someone who needs to be punished for their actions, someone who thinks they could get away with anything."

"Well they shouldn't, no one should be able to get away with something like this, ever." He was reflecting his own fears of his new parenthood

"Owen, do you need a moment? Do you want me to take Sophia tonight?" Callie offered thoughtfully, she read his clear face expression and guessed correctly what this was about

"No, I need to be with her tonight, but thank you." He answered sincerely

…

She screwed it up. Of course she did, _I can't do anything right_ , she reprimanded herself. She wondered where to go next. It felt too much to go to the house right now, she couldn't read Bailey a bed time story or play princess with Zola in this state. She couldn't go to a bar either, although it seemed like the only escape at the moment.

Kepner came out of the conference room elated, the biggest grin on her face. Amelia smiled softly at her, it was like her happiness was infectious, it was nice to see someone else who has been sad for a long while be content, it gave her hope.

April noticed that Amelia was still sitting there, outside the room, she was suddenly hit by how her new position meant her new friend lost something she wanted too. She looked at her with gentle compassion, grateful for the barely detectable smile on her face.

"Congratulations Kepner," Amelia tried her best to sound excited for her colleague

"I'm sorry, you really wanted this job.." April bit her lip, unable to balance her feelings between her personal feelings for wanting to help Amelia and being enthusiastic about her promotion

"No, you deserved it," the neurosurgeon told her profoundly, "I don't think it was even the chief position that I wanted so badly, I mostly just wanted something to be good among all this chaos, I need something good."

April had no idea what to say, she wanted to be there for her, but she didn't know Amelia long enough to know what to do, "I know how you feel," she started, "Do you want to go to the NICU?"

The suggestion sent a chuckle out of Amelia's mouth, the last thing she needed was to be reminded of how much she craved motherhood, or mothering one particular child at least. "No, I'm fine," it seemed like she was constantly saying these words that they would eventually become meaningless, "You should go celebrate."

…

"Wh- what are you doing here?" Owen himself was puzzled about his emotions, but the feeling that dominated them all was resentment. She didn't have the right to come here, this his place with Cristina, he hadn't shown it to anyone else, and he didn't plan to.

"Is there any place where you aren't there?" When she looked up, it was surprising to both of them that she wasn't crying. She only knew, however, that she wanted to cry, but it seemed like her tear ducts just wouldn't comply, she couldn't react in any way, it was like her bottled up emotions were drained and dried out. "I came here to vent," she chortled somberly at her own play on words

"How did you even find this place?" Amelia's hiding troubled him, but exasperation still overshadowed everything else.

"You know what, screw you! I don't have to tell you anything!" She yelled at him as she stood up, "You tell me that you love me and you're so sure I love you back, well that doesn't mean anything anymore because I let you in, I freaking let you hold me after my nightmares, I told you everything, and you gave me nothing! I don't even know you! It doesn't even matter that I wanted to adopt Dania too, because you're too freaking selfish!" she pushed his chest with her open palms and gave him a scornful leer

Owen felt suddenly overwhelmed by all the pent up feelings he was hiding behind the anger, like he was being punched again and again and the fists won't tire. He silently held her benevolently and watched her perturbed face as he led her over to stand directly over one of the vents. He then let her go and backed away.

"What are you doing?" her question was muffled by the unexpected forceful appeasing rush of air from underneath, causing her coat and hair to fly upwards, and her to instinctively close her eyes and clear her mind.

When the air stopped and she opened her eyes, she found her hands reflexively resting on Owen's arms. She glanced up to find him leaning in slowly and meticulously. She didn't object when his lips took hers in. He kissed her with yearning passion, and it felt like the butterflies in their stomachs took them back to their first kiss again, the memory was so vivid in their minds, it was a moment of heaven on earth, letting them go back to before things got so complicated.


	15. Chapter 15

"Hey Mer! I brought ice cream and popcorn and Gone Girl, we're watching the hot woman kills hot boys and wish I could do it!" Amelia called her sister as she entered the house, when she noticed the lights on and uncharacteristic quietness in the house, she called again as she walked to the living room, "Mer?"

She felt all the blood pumped into her face and she knew it turned crimson immediately as she saw Owen holding a sleeping Dania and Meredith about to take her from him when he turned around to look at Amelia. "I'm so sorry, I didn't know who else to call, Callie and I are working late at the hospital and I-" Owen stuttered as he cursed himself internally, he truly had no idea what else he could do, he didn't have the heart to leave her sleeping alone, too scared she'll wake up alone and not find anyone.

"It's ok," Amelia swallowed hardly, "you don't have to apologize. Give her to me?" she meant to tell him to leave Dani to her firmly, but it came out like a question, like she wasn't sure of the authority she had in the awkwardness of the situation.

He handed the girl over gently to Amelia's shoulder, careful to not wake her up, although it seemed impossible at that time. "I'm sorry I ruined your night, you can still fantasize about maiming me," he jested nervously in attempt to make light of the situation, apparently making it worse as both women looked at the floor and he was the only one who chuckled at his own joke. He alternated glances between them and excused himself, thanking them profusely as he walked out.

Amelia waited until she heard the door shut and made sure there was no way he could hear her, then she interrupted when Meredith was about to open her mind and say something, "Really?" she glared at her belligerently

"What was I supposed to do? He's family, I can't say no." that did not get Meredith out of the death stare Amelia was giving her, "look when I started my fellowship, he helped me with Zola before I found a nanny, and there was both me and Derek." She watched as her sister in law looked away reluctantly and moved her gaze to the girl lovingly as she stroked her hair and then walked away to take her upstairs. "It doesn't seem like you mind the baby sitting much!" she protested and teased

…

Over the next several days, shunning was the solution they both used, no one said anything, it was just silent stares and hand brushes every now and then,. She wanted to get back with him but her prejudice was too big to admit it. Owen repeatedly asked Meredith to babysit again and when Meredith said yes, Amelia intervened and took Dania for herself after Owen left. The new Grey-Shepherd collaboration was working in good harmony, they made the family life work.

One night after Amelia finished telling Dani a bed time story, she was uncharacteristically still not asleep, Amelia noticed that something was wrong and was stirring inside of the little girl, concerned, she asked what was wrong.

"Are you mommy?" she answered her question with a question, throwing Amelia off guard.

She considered her next words carefully, though desperately wanting to say yes and assure her, but things between her and Owen were still rocky, "That depends, do you want me to be your mommy?"

Dani gave her a tight embrace with all the force her little short arms could gather and nodded her head against Amelia's tummy, "I know daddy is my new daddy 'cause he telled me, but he not telled me who's my new mommy, I think you're a nice mommy."

Amelia felt her shirt getting a little wet and her heart broke at the girl's hurting words, she deserved a full family, and Amelia threw the caution to the wind and decided to accept the invitation. If Dani decided she was her mum, there's no way Owen wouldn't let her see her daughter. "Then yes Dani, I'm your mum, and you can be my little princess."

"You're the best mommy ever!" she grinned joyously and slept in Amelia's arm like a baby for the rest of the night.

Staring at her, Amelia felt connected like never before to a human being. She knew she wasn't her biological daughter, but oddly enough, she had dark brown hair and beautiful green eyes. If she didn't know any better, she'd say the brown came from her and the eye color and the curls came from Owen. She caressed her soft olive skin and fell asleep, never wanting to let go of her.

…

Amelia woke and went down stairs hurriedly, calculating the time she'd need to grab breakfast and drink some coffee before Maggie passed by to take her on their run. Everyone noticed her attempt to overwork and busy herself with anything but fixing the pink elephant that followed her to every room. So they'd try different consolations, April offered delicious homemade food at lunch. Arizona was always upbeat and perky, often bringing Sofia over for a play date as the two women swooned over their daughter. Meredith gave dark and twisty advice, and was a living example that things can be worse, and that you can come through anything. Callie always wanted to talk it out, and convince her to take Owen back, but Amelia was too stubborn. As yet another distraction, she decided to go with Maggie and run every morning, she'd read studied on how exercise can give you a clear view, and so she wanted to try it.

As was planned, Owen came over to pick Dania up on his way to the hospital as he went in earlier. Purposely forgetting Amelia was startled when she saw him at the doorstep.

"Hey." She greeted, awkwardly not asking him to come in.

"Hi." He said, gawking directly down at her outfit.

"My boobs aren't all that visible under the hoodie, what are you staring at?" Amelia asked, being the unfaltering woman that she is.

Owen giggled and looked back up at her quickly when he was caught staring, "I'm sorry I didn't mean to- it's just that.. that hoodie looks good on you." He couldn't help but feel his heart skip a beat when he saw her in his old oversized navy hoodie that matched her deep blue eyes.

She quickly realized that she had inadvertently packed his hoodie when she took her stuff. She wore it so frequently that she almost forgot it wasn't hers, "I'm sorry, um, I didn't notice, I uh.. I should give it back to you, I could uh.." the unfaltering resilient woman was now stammering

"No I didn't mean that.. I think you should keep it. It always looked better on you anyway." He had unintentionally flirted like that quite a few times since the kiss, but Amelia always replied professionally. Now, out of the hospital, they were standing at the door step in silence desire.

Thankfully (or not), Maggie chimed in, not taking note of the wordless interaction, "Hey, Hunt! Nice to see you here, are you coming to run with us too?"

"Uhh, no, that's okay, maybe some other time, you guys go, I'll just take Dania and head to the hospital." He alternated his glances between Amelia and Maggie

"Help yourself in," she didn't realize her voice was shakily nervous until the words came out. It was all she could manage.

..

"What was THAT?" Maggie inquired playfully while they were running

"Let's talk about something else," her breathing quickened

"I thought you didn't run, but you're in a pretty good shape," Maggie tried to change the subject

"I did other forms of vigorous exercise until lately," Amelia reasoned

"Really? Like what?"

"Sex." She panted and paused, "Hot dirty amazing sex. With Owen. Almost like the put you in the hospital sex. I miss that."

"You know that thing people have where they don't always say what they're thinking," Maggie teased

"A filter." This wasn't the first time Amelia heard something like that

"Yeah, you don't have it," Maggie sighed with a smile and continued running, letting Amelia catch up.

…

Meredith, sick of all the drama, decided to take matters into her own hands and fix this ongoing soap opera. She waited until the ER was quieter and he didn't have get into any surgeries that day in preparations for a major one later that night, he would be trapped and unexcused.

"Hunt." She called his name as she walked in the skills lab

"Grey, can I help you?" he replied casually

"Yes, actually. I need you to apologize to Amelia, because I don't want Ellis's first words to be 'Owen is a jackass'." She demanded in a serious fed up tone

He didn't know whether to laugh at the joke or reply seriously, but he was definitely taken aback, "I.. I tried. I kissed her."

"You what?" she gave him a small scolding slap on his head

"Ow!" he scowled, nonplused, they were friends, but this was a first.

"You don't just kiss someone like Amelia and expect everything to be alright. If anything, it's offensive. Do you love her?" she was growing angrier by the second

"Very much," he admitted, surprised his love for her was even in question

"then go fight for her! Apologize, make it up to her! Give her an explanation, just go fix it, because what you two are doing is plain stupid. It was never going to work with Cristina, but now you've got this, and I can't see another one of my friends leave, so you better make it right." She ordered before she walked out of the room, her eyes starting to glisten. He realized then that no matter how much you try, it was impossible to get over something this magical, it will stick with you until the day you die, and sometimes even after that.

..

He caught her in the hall, just out of surgery, with her favorite scrub cap on.

"Dr Shepherd, how was your surgery?"

"It was successful," skepticism in her answer because she hadn't expected him to drop their unsaid deal of avoidance.

Before the turned the corner, he grabbed her hand gently and swiftly swooped her in a supply closet, not even asking to talk to her, knowing that she'd come up with work as an excuse like she always did.

"What the hell? I don't have time for-" she was furious

"Stop, stop for a minute and just listen. You were right." The beginning caught her attention, so she agreed to stay still and listen, but she did not however grant him her gaze. "I should have discussed Dania with you, I was a jackass."

"You think?"

"Amelia, I'm not gonna give you some lame excuse or reason to stay with me, but I want to be around you for the rest of my life. No, stop, you don't have to answer now." he shut her down when she was about to open her mouth to say something, "I believe in us, I believe that we can get through this. I know I don't deserve it, but I'm asking for one more chance. Don't answer me now, or tomorrow for that matter, but if you think there's hope for us like I do, just please look at me, I need you to _look_ at me, Mia."

She reluctantly moved her head in the confined space between him and the shelves, and slowly, deliberately, burning him with increasing hopefulness, to finally meet his eyes. She had missed them so much, and feared that if she let them in again, there would be no resilience or self control again, that it'd all fade away. With a relieved and satisfied expression, Owen left her breathless in the dark supply closed before any of that could happen.

There was a lot of buzz around the hospital about Owen and Callie's surgery, they were going to give the 16 year old girl from the shooting an entire leg bone transplant. They were replacing her bones with donor ones, and using titanium for joints. Amelia fretted about Owen's speech to her for the rest of the day, she replayed it a million times in her head, every time with a new reaction. She tried with all her will to force logic into the situation, science, reason, that's what she knew worked. This however exceeded all of that, her brain couldn't function properly. The next thing she knew, her shift was over and she had put Dania to bed and returned to her car to buy a bottle of wine on her way to the hospital. She thought it would be a nice new start, the first time was with awkward sparkling water, and this time would be with acceptance and confident fancy wine. He could drink and she would let herself take advantage after a few glasses. However, all these imaginations of make up sex were shattered when she found herself standing in the scrub room, watching from the squared window, the quite empty operating room, with only Owen and Callie. Kissing.


	16. Chapter 16

It was the toughest freaking surgery ever. Not already was the original plan the most complicated technique used, but to add to that, everything that could have went wrong, did. They faced several complications, at one point, it seemed like it wasn't going to work, like they put the girl through an unnecessary operation. Thankfully enough, it did work, they kept their calm and continued fixing everything one step at a time, and eventually, the teenager would be able to walk again, maybe even run and play sports in the long run.

After the exhausting long surgery, Owen and Callie sat in the empty OR and reveled their success. "That was almost better than sex," Callie quipped grinning, feeling more empowered than ever.

I gave Owen a fresh genuine chuckle, "That was.. sensational."

"Sensational? It was supercalifragilisticexpialidocious!"

He laughed tiredly as he retorted, "You and Arizona are that bad?"

Snapped back into reality, the toothy grin turned into a smaller smile, "I don't know where we are, it's all just aghhh."

"Yeah, I know how that feels." He sighed, holding on to the glimpse of hope Amelia gave him earlier

"Do you sometimes wish you could just be pretend happy for a moment?" the ortho surgeon pouted.

"Pretend happy?" he grimaced

"Yeah, like just for once, forget that you wanna strangle them and just.. have pretend sex, pretend kiss, pretend happy." Callie pondered out loud

"I like that, pretend kiss, pretend happy," he shared, unsure.

She looked at him, and they were both thinking the same –horrible, later to be regretted- thought. If they could for a second, just pretend, to be happy, to be kissing and with the person they love. They leaned in slowly, hesitantly, guilt already building up. After 3 seconds of their lips touching, they both pulled away at the speed of light. They bashfully shared a short glance before falling into laughter.

"Oh, let's never do that again?" Owen asked timidly amidst of the giggles

"Yes please, I thought it'd be like mark, but that was like kissing my brother," Callie admitted as the chortling died down and was quickly replaced by deep remorse and yearning.

"Oh god, I miss Amelia," he looked at the ground, ashamed.

"Then you better go after her and explain this," Callie said in a hollow whisper as she nudged her friend. His eyes shot up to catch her familiar figure, with a bottle of wine –actual fancy wine- run out of the scrub area.

He sprung up and immediately began running after her, but he didn't come close until she was outside the main entrance. He shouted her name over and over again as she kept her back to him. It wasn't until he yelled that he could explain that Amelia finally turned around and stomped her way back to him, placing the bottle of wine in his hands indignantly.

"I just thought of the times I relapsed or almost did, this isn't as big of a moment to me," she wanted to hurt him, to make him feel like she didn't care, but the fact that she was so obviously vexed gave it away.

"It's not what it looks like-" he tried to defend himself but Amelia was in no state for excuses or lies or feeble explanations, she was already walking away again.

"Save it. We're not even together, you don't owe me anything. Enjoy the wine." He watched as she got in her car and hated himself for hurting her. He looked at the fancy bottle of wine placed in his hands and almost cried.

..

Realizing she actually did get close to a relapse, she immediately went for a meeting, She remembered how he once saved her from drifting back to the tenebrous hole, he was now the reason she wanted to crawl to that hole and hide. By the end of the night, ultimately, she was proud of her reaction. She couldn't really sleep all that well, and the sudden call in the middle of the night didn't help. It was a cab driver telling her that the drunk man with him said to call her for his home address, and then she heard a distinct voice calling from behind "I love you Mia!". Helpless and lost as to what else to do, she lead the taxi to the house and received a drunken Owen at the door. His breath reeked of repulsive alcohol, and she didn't appreciate the irony of her other half getting wasted instead of her.

"Did you drink the whole wine bottle?" she scolded him as she helped him get to her room and warned him to be quiet

"First there was the wine.. good wine.. and then there was.." he held his fingers up and squinted as if counting, "a few glasses of scotch." Then he started hysteric hissing laugh while Amelia settled him on her bed and shushed him, "you know what's funny?" he asked in the most serious way a drunken person could and Amelia just signed and eyed him cynically, "I didn't tell you about me because I was scared you'd realize you were too good for me and leave me, and instead you left me because you didn't know me," he gawked at her glimpse of empathy and understanding, "I was thinking about you when I kissed her," he laughed so hard there was no sound actually coming out, "it's horrible actually, oh and worst kiss of my life, shh don't tell Callie that." She laid him down and took off his stinking shirt and said nothing as she listened to the maudlin truth. She watched his silent laughter turn into little sobs and his desperate eyes turn to her thoughtfully. "Don't leave me, Mia, please." He tried to sit up and hold her face, he scooted closer and begged, "I will die alone and miserable, I need you, please, I'll do anything." He locked his lips with hers abruptly and slid his tongue in. After a second of weakness, she pulled away quickly, not allowing herself to taste the alcohol she craved. She studied his honest face and pitied herself for believing him and wanting to comply and answer his plea. Though she couldn't manage to say anything, she allowed him to cry on her shoulder and fade away slowly.

..

He woke to find himself in a bed other than his, and freaked about the muddling memories of the previous night returning to him. He noticed the lack of clothes and was petrified of what might have happened that he was too drunk to remember. He looked around to recognize the room as Amelia's, and then dared to look at the door to see Amelia observe his every move. "Good morning," she said, worryingly calm and with a sly smirk on her face.

"Morning," he was still doubtful of what has happened, "Um.. did I.. did we.." he stumbled on his words for not finding a way to ask her why he was naked in her bed.

"Oh yeah, we were doing it but you kept repeating your ex's name and then passed out in the middle," she stated casually and was amused by the panicked expression on his face, "No, that didn't happen, but it'll come back to you," she elaborated, just in case he didn't get her sarcasm.

He felt humiliated, what had he done so that the night he kissed Callie, he ended up in Amelia's bed? After he cleaned up and put some clothes on, he went down stairs to find Amelia in the kitchen, she offered him coffee and was still confusingly polite. The first thing that worried him was his daughter and where she was in the middle of all this mess. Amelia reassured him and told him that Meredith took all the kids to daycare earlier, and that no, she didn't see him in the room. He quietly accepted the peculiar kindness and was mesmerized by her.

"I've been thinking," she broke the comfortable silence as she sipped the last of her coffee, "we have major communication issues," he nodded, still confused about where this was going, "but we don't have to avoid each other, we could be.. friends." She suggested it like it was an epiphany, the only logical solution.

"We could be," he said after a moment, he was thrilled to accept any sort of presence for Amelia in his life right now. Also not being able to say no to anything she says after this morning. Plus, she hadn't mentioned what sort of friends they'd be, and he still had hope.


	17. Chapter 17

Sometimes in life, when things get messy, you need to step back and take a look at the bigger picture. Of course, talking is easy, but when you're in the middle of the picture, it isn't so simple to step out of it. Some people are lucky enough to have someone to let them in on what they're seeing when they're 'out of it', but quite often, we don't listen, because what do they know? They're not the ones going through it. This is where you have a choice, to do what you believe is working, or to listen to the guiding voice from the outside.

They both fell back on their backs panting and sweating from the finally released pent up sexual tension. How could they have ever thought that they would manage being in a room alone and keep their hands off each other? They tried, really did (well at least Amelia tried) to keep it platonic, but that barely lasted for a day. After they decided to be friends, they also agreed they'd create the most possible normal environment for Dania, after all how bad could it be right? There are divorced parents who handled it perfectly, why wouldn't they –as friends- handle one little girl. Therefore, they tucked her in to sleep together, and she was on cloud nine, thrilled to have both of her new loving parents next to her. When they moved to the living room, Amelia wanted to say goodbye, the appropriate thing was to just leave, but the easier thing to do was to offer a friendlier goodbye. The palm she offered for a handshake made them both giggle, it was silly to be so formal now, so Owen had pulled her hand and turned it to a hug, friends can hug right? The missed sensation of their bodies so close to each other almost made him want to scream his lungs out. Amelia breathed in with difficulty and felt it natural to plant a small peck on the cheek as she pulled away from the hug. Again, totally platonic. The next move however, was not brotherly at all. He let his hand go lower down her back. There was no stopping after that, self control was something lost with the wind. Next thing they knew, they were on the bed, slick and giddy.

"Wow," was all she could manage, staring at the ceiling, still processing what happened and trying to catch her breath.

"Yeah," he chuckled in vain and return of appreciation to her as well.

After a few minutes of stolen glances and satisfied grins and giggles, they both caught their breathes, and it all started to sink in. Amelia rolled herself so she could face him better and was full of guilt as she carefully started, "Owen.."

"hmm?" he looked at her paying more attention

She started moving her fingers mindlessly, drawing random shapes on his bare chest, "are you okay with this?" she rested her hand after she asked, signaling seriousness.

"What do you mean?" a confused crease between his eyebrows formed

"with us, with this, friends.. I mean, I still don't think we can have a relationship, last time it blew up and nothing has changed," noticing the dismay appearing on his face, she felt a knife stab her heart, it was her fault for not having a little restraint, "I'm sorry, I shouldn't have.." she trailed off

"No, no, it's okay," he corrected as quick as it soaked in, and he faked a happy face, "I get it, and I'm fine with it"

"Really?" she was extremely dubious

"Yeah, I'm not a little kid, we're still friends… just friends who sometimes help each other out with certain needs. I'm fine. This is great." His excited expression was too hard to believe, but despite it, Amelia wanted to believe it, so she told herself that he's an adult and he could handle it if he says he can.

"Thank you," the grin returned to her face, she gave him a quick but passionate kiss, and she started to get up. He pulled her back immediately and sadly inquired where she was going, when she said she wanted to go home to sleep, he instantly offered her to sleep over, after all, she always wore his shirts and they would save gas going to the hospital together. She let herself forget about Meredith, and agreed to sleep in, after all, she really was too tired to drive.

They were friends. Good friends. Best friends. Sexual favors friends. It wasn't much different than when they were together, only better. Because friends tell each other everything. Owen was frustrated a few times when he was about to cross his line and do something 'romantic', but he enjoyed 'casual' nights in just as much, sharing OR stories with Amelia, watching her laugh, and when things got hard and a case or a movie scene reminded him of the war, it was easier to be vulnerable with her. They grew more accepting of each other and they memorized everything about one another, hated foods, favorite types of coffee, and the best part of it all was they got to be a family to Dania, to make her smile and laugh and watch her play with other kids together without it being awkward

..

"Hey, Owen," she ran up to him in the hall, "there's an emergency," she said in a mixture of thrill and nervousness

"what now? I can't," he looked at his watch, "you know what, ok, I have 15 minutes," he started towards an on call room. They had their encounters at work restricted, wanting to let everyone who told them what they were doing was stupid over and over again to forget about them, plus, it wasn't easy for two busy doctors to disappear together without being interrupted anyway. But sometimes a day got too hard, and they just needed it, so they called them emergencies and slid to a quiet on call room.

"No it isn't that," she pulled his arm and smiled sheepishly, "we kind of have to stop that."

"Uhh..why?" he narrowed his eyes, this was all her idea

"Someone asked me out. A guy. Greg from oncology. He's nice. I mean, he doesn't shave often, but he's a good guy right?," she shifted gracelessly, "Anyway, I said yes. I just wanted a friend's input."

"You wanted my opinion?" he was not only surprised but also annoyed at the sudden change

"Um.. yeah, yes, you're my friend, my best friend," she punched his shoulder attempting to clear the uneasiness, "I value what you think."

"Well you already said yes, so good luck," he nodded formally, "Excuse me I've got work." He walked away as quickly as he could, leaving Amelia dumbfounded by his reaction.

They didn't talk or see each other until later that afternoon, she made up a lame excuse about not being able to pick Dania up to talk to him, figure out what his earlier attitude was about. He simply brushed her off and told her he'd handle it. She continued to walk beside him and was further puzzled when he grabbed her arm firmly.

"What's your mum doing here?" he asked under his breath as he slowed their pace down and forced a smile.

She turned ahead to see two older women walk out of the elevator and faked her best grin too, "Why is yours here?" she said through gritted teeth

"I don't know," he nodded as the continued their snail speed walk toward the mothers, "Mia.. I haven't told her we broke up." He admitted

She almost lost her smile as she quickly gave him a reprehending glare, and then she remembered and confessed, "Mine thinks we went on a couple of dates and doesn't know about Dani."

The mums and their kids met halfway in the hall when there was no other way of escape or avoidance. Evelyn hugged her son and Carolyn gave her baby girl a condescending cheek kiss and she feigned obedience. Owen greeted Amelia's mum and the daughter was surprised to find out they have met before. Owen's mum also gave Amelia a warm hug, assuming she was her son's serious girlfriend. Evelyn said she wanted to see her granddaughter and Carolyn merely told Amelia there was a lot to catch up on. Both younger adults excused themselves by saying they had surgery and they couldn't just drop everything. Both mums acted very understanding, Carolyn being a former navy nurse and Evelyn have served in the Vietnam War, they agreed to wait together and talk while they waited for their kids. The idea was dreadful to Owen and Amelia, so they quickly each took their parent and offered to walk with them a bit before they had to absolutely go into surgery.

..

"Why didn't Amelia and her mum join us?" Evelyn asked her son as he rapidly walked her as far away as possible

"Umm, let's give them some privacy for now," he made up the lamest excuse, "what are you doing here now?"

"Well I wanted to see my granddaughter! And say hello to my future daughter in law," she teased Owen

"Mum, I'll get you Dania, but um, about Amelia.." he trailed off, having no idea how to explain what happened

Evelyn shushed him as they entered his office and he offered her some coffee, obeying his mum's orders to stop talking. She studied him cautiously while he shifted uncomfortably in his chair, sipping on his coffee to distract himself from the heavy silence. She silently took out a small black velvet box out of her purse and gave it to him. He took it, perplexed, and glanced at his mum before opening it to reveal a beautiful platinum ring with a big blue sapphire attached to it. His opened his mouth to say something but he was incapable of forming proper words. "Your dad gave it to me, it was from his mum, when everything was falling apart, this was the only thing they didn't sell. It's time you gave it to Amelia," she prompted.

"Mum, I.." he started wanting to tell her they weren't together, but an obvious question came to mind instead, "You didn't give this to me for Cristina." It was more of a simple observation rather than a question, but a clarification was in order.

"Honey I didn't know you were married to her until a week later, you told me she didn't want moms at her wedding. I barely knew her, but Amelia, you cannot shut up about that girl. Don't get me wrong, I was happy if Cristina made you happy, she got you back to me and I'll be forever grateful, but that's over now, and Amelia is perfect, she's warm and kind, the way you're beaming when you're next to her! It's long overdue if you asked me," she elaborated

Owen teared up slightly and sniffled, then shook it off and grimly told his mum about their break up, "You're right, but she's not with me anymore, I.. I hurt her, she forgave me, I think, but she's going out on a date with someone else tonight so.." he stopped and pursed his lips, stifling a cry.

"Oh that's nonsense!" Evelyn dismissed him, "Owen Hunt you go make it right with that girl, she's the mother of your child!" she scolded, "now get me my grandkid!" As if on cue, Amelia knocked the door and came in with Dani, Owen hurried to hide the little box in his coat pocket as the grandma showered the little girl with kisses and hugs. Amelia looked at Owen and he silently communicated that it was okay when his mother urged her to stay with them.

…

"Now that's a fine gentleman," Carolyn sneaked a look at Owen as he walked away, "tell me you're still dating him."

"Mum, what are you doing here?" Amelia asked as lovingly as she could manage

"I wouldn't have to come if you picked the phone instead of sending silly texts," the mother criticized, "now, my baby has never stayed single for as long as you claim, so spill it out"

"You never like anyone I date so what's the point?" she retorted

"I like Major Hunt," she replied immediately

"That's not.. We're not.." Amelia stuttered

"C'mon Amy, fess up."

"Well, one thing I have to confess is.. you're a grandma now!" Amelia blurted it out, rip off the bandage, she told herself. Unfortunately, it was harder than that.

"Yes dear, I have 14 grandkids, I'm aware I'm a grandma, I don't appreciate you pointing out my age," Carolyn retorted, it was clear where Amelia got her sense of mockery

"Mum.. I.. sort of have a daughter, she's 4, a ray of sunshine," she clarified as she led them to daycare. Noticing the sudden halt and angry expression on her mum's face, Amelia knew she had to do better, she sighed and struggled to explain, "Major Hunt- Owen.. he adopted her, and we're co-parenting, but we're only friends, in fact I'm going out with someone new tonight."

Amelia earned herself a patronizing hit on the head from her mother, she was as embarrassed as she was when she was 16 and was caught sneaking out at night. "Young lady, we're going to need to have a long talk about your poor decisions. Right now, show me my newest granddaughter." As visiting time at daycare was over, Carolyn was ready to give her daughter a long painful lecture about having to get her head out of her ass. Amelia however, found the perfect reason to dodge the situation and told her Evelyn had a right to see her grandkid as well, promising she won't take long.

…

Gratefully, both doctors got paged for an emergency and had to flee their mothers and meet in surgery, where they both shared the exhausting conversations they had to have, both however, leaving out sensitive parts. Conveniently enough, each one of them loved the other's mother.

Amelia got off her shift early so she could get ready and go out on her date. Owen, accepting any diversion of thought than the image of Greg's hairy hands all over Amelia, took an extra night shift. Luckily for him, an ambulance called only a few minutes after she left and his shift started. He waited outside the ambulance bay, amped up, with Edwards

"30 something, Jane Doe, GSW to the shoulder bleeding profusely," the paramedic informed as she opened the back door.

"It's not Jane Doe, It's Dr Amelia Shepherd!" Greg yelled while pushing the gurney out.


	18. Chapter 18

"What the hell happened?!" Owen asked in rage and worry

"I was being safely mugged until Greg came," Amelia was conscious and disapproving of how everyone was handling her wound

" I yelled at him to back off, I guess he was scared, he fired the gun and ran away," Greg explained, drowning in his sweat

"I'm fine!" she winced as she tried to sit up and still denied her pain, both men made sure she lied back down. The gun shot was through and through, not hitting any major arteries, she was lucky, some would say.

As they neared a trauma room , several doctors were already all around the wounded neurosurgeon, she hated the attention, this kind of attention anyway, she wasn't okay with everyone seeing her hurt. Owen was stopped at the door by Callie and told he couldn't enter. "What do you mean, she was shot, get out of my way!"

"You signed a document so you wouldn't have to deal with the non-fraternization policy, you can't go in there Hunt, I'm sorry," Callie told him as a professional board member

" C'mon you know we broke up, this doesn't apply!" he defended feebly

"Oh yeah, I know all about you two, that's why you can't be her doctor," she scoffed.

Owen was feeling defeated and helpless as he watched his fellow surgeon enter the room and shut the blinds.

..

After shooting her up with antibiotics to prevent infections, they let her know that she was lucky as the bullet didn't hit any major arteries or any bone. She was prescribed rest to let the muscle heal, and had to deal with the excruciating pain without any help, she knew she needed to get to a meeting the second she left the room.

Uncomfortable stillness raided the room, and the air was filled with harsh unspoken words between the previously close friends. It was Amelia who broke the silence with a quiet question while Callie finished up cleaning the injury, "Do you love him?"

The skilled doctor's gaze shot up quickly to meet her patient's, she raised her eyes and examined Amelia carefully, but still couldn't figure out what was asked, "I'm sorry, I'm a little lost here.. we're talking about..?" she left the sentence open for Amelia to complete

She hoped this would sound like a simple casual conversation between two girlfriends about their crushes, but the way she asked and the way Callie was slow to understand only increased the heaviness of the atmosphere, after a moment of silence and hesitation, she sighed and answered, "Owen."

As soon as she heard the name, Callie chuckled involuntarily. She gathered herself and noticed that Amelia's expression was still serious and expectant, she couldn't help but laugh harder, "I'm sorry, you think that Owen and I are..?" she stopped to stifle another wave of giggles

"Why not? We're friends and dating other people, you guys should too," Amelia smirked and lied

"Cut the crap, Shepherd, Who, Greg? Please, you can lie to the nurses but don't tell me you're into an oncologist, save yourself the trouble." Now she was straight out mad. Watching Amelia pout and look away, she remembered, " Oh god is this about the kiss? I thought he explained that to you, it was horrible. Even if I did love him, even if every woman was all over him, it wouldn't matter because he loves you, you know that right?"

She did. She knew it, but she was an idiot for not being able to admit it out loud. She cleared her throat and nodded. "Okay," she smiled genuinely, "Thank you," she didn't know what she was thankful for, but it felt like the right thing to say.

..

After some time, Owen returned to the room to visit as family, the contract had given him that privilege. He was internally grateful that Callie didn't let him enter at the time, guessing that he would have probably been agitated and annoying and cross a line trying to boss people around about how to treat her. He had time to calm himself down, he was still worried, but found comfort in how Amelia was conscious. He was later relieved in the update that it was nothing life threatening.

"Hey," he greeted like he was just talking to her at the nurse's station, she appreciated calmness in situations like this, "How are you doing?"

"Hi," she beamed as soon as he came in the room, a million puns about being shot, but she surprisingly suppressed them down and simply replied, "I'm not going to be able to operate for a few weeks, that sucks, but I'm fine."

Owen sat down and held her arm to offer support. "Where's Greg?" He didn't really care about him in particular and was uncomfortable thinking about him, but the question felt obligatory.

"He went to get some water, I think his sweat glands dried up," Amelia mocked her own date

"Marry me," the whisper shocked Owen himself as he heard what came out of his mouth. He saw Amelia mirroring his own expression with unbelieving widened eyes and parted lips. He shook his head and secretly pinched himself, quickly realizing this wasn't a dream, he continued, "I- I love you. I love that little vein that sticks out the side of your forehead when you're mad or concentrating. I love how you're staring at me right now wishing I'd just shut up. I love your morbid sense of humor. I imagined I'd ask you in a more special way, or something.. not a cliché because you hate that, but you got shot, and life is too short, and I love you," his smooth improvised speech left Amelia even more speechless and jaw dropped. He remembered the ring given to him earlier and clumsily opened the box in front of her.

In the worst moment possible, Greg walked in and interrupted, "Hey, I brought two bottles of water, one for you and one for me, because we're two, obviously," he was charmless, completely the opposite of the hot trauma surgeon. "Dude, I thought she was okay, is there something else you're here for?" the poor guy seemed to be one of the few people left who haven't heard about Owen and Amelia's history.

Amelia realized her hand was now instinctively covering Owen's and hiding the box and the alluring ring in it. She moved her eyes between her innocent cringe worthy date and the dreamy man who happened to be the love of her life. Owen glanced down at her hand covering his and faked a cough. "No, she's alright.." he stood up and turned around just before he left the room, "Let me know," he said shortly with a hoarse voice.

…

Joy filled her heart, most people would love having a week off, but Amelia Shepherd was dying to get back to work. She still wasn't cleared for surgery and told to only offer consults, but she figured she'd maneuver her way around that judgment. She waited for the elevator eagerly, like a little kid on Christmas morning, waiting for the first case like waiting to open up the gifts.

"Hey!" she greeted Owen enthusiastically as he stood nearby and awaited the elevator. He said nothing and pressed the button repeatedly like it was going to make it come faster. "I already pressed that." Amelia half smirked

"You're not supposed to be working, " he scoffed dryly, keeping his eyes fixed on the elevator light and avoiding eye contact at all costs

"I'm just here for consults, but I'm sure we'll figure something out with you being the ex-chief and all," she flirted.

He sighed, not caring to mask his exasperation, "I'm taking the stairs," he said under his breath as he walked away leaving Amelia guilty and unnerved.

…

Later in the day, Owen had to page neuro for a consult, hoping it'd be anyone but Amelia. Predictably, she was the one with the most free time so he was stuck with her. There was an 8 year old boy who was injured while hockey training and required immediate surgery for his spleen. However, they had to make sure he was clear of any head injuries as well. When the scans came back, they revealed an arachnoid cysts. The doctors delivered the news to the distraught mother and her boyfriend. She seemed young, no older than 25. They watched as they fought over the options.

"So we leave it, it might resolve on its own, right? Better than slicing open her brain," The mum shared her thoughts out loud

"The surgery on her spleen might cause the pressure in her brain to increase, all brain surgeries have risks, but Dr Edwards is very well trained and Dr Shepherd is the best, she'll be watching the surgery step by step," Owen reassured both young adults

Seeing the mum is completely lost, the man tried to comfort her, "Lily, trust your gut, it's probably better to wait for it to resolve like you said."

"Shut up George! We're talking about my son here, you can't decide this, you have no relation to him!" the aggravated mum scolded in a watery voice, "You're the doctors, I trust you, do what you need to do."

The surgeons nodded and ran to prep for surgery. Amelia tried to strike up friendly small talk while they scrubbed, but Owen ignored her like a ghost. It seemed fair to him when he thought about her ignoring his calls and not giving him an answer and then acting like nothing happened. He was hurt and humiliated.

Amelia's phone rang in the middle of the operation, so she told the nurse to answer and put it on speaker for her, an irritating voice spoke, "Hey bae! It's Gregory." Amelia immediately told the nurse to hang up in a hushed embarrassed voice. Owen chuckled under his mask, "Dr Hunt?" she urged him to speak up

"No, nothing, but you're still seeing Greg?" he chaffed, "I get it, he's such a bae."

"I am not, I don't know why he called. It's brave that he didn't run away after he saw the mess I bring about though," she replied, feeling at fault

A second later, the monitors started beeping turbulently, "Everything is in order here, what have you done Dr Shepherd?" Owen yelled

"Give us a second!" Amelia shouted back and continued to guide her student through the next steps.

"Don't screw this up Edwards!" he added angrily

"Shut up and let her concentrate!" Amelia barked. A little later, the complication was resolved and the monitors returned to the steady assuring sounds and everyone sighed in relief.

After the surgery, Edwards couldn't wait to get out of the tensed environment and run to the bathroom to puke. Amelia and Owen left alone again in the scrub area, she decided to give him a piece of her mind, "You realize that was reportable sexual harassment right? Yes, I was a bitch who didn't answer you, but at work I'm not your soldier and you're not even my superior, so stop with the immature silent treatment! At least look at me!" Owen stopped his rough scrubbing and glared at her. She reflexively bowed her head down, knowing she was blame worthy. Her voice softened, "I'm sorry that I hurt you, but I need some time. I miss my friend, Owen."

He shook his head dismissively before returning to washing his hands, "I miss my Amelia too," she heard his voice muffled by the sound of the running water

"I want shared custody of Dania," Her words deserved his full attention, "Right now I'm even less than that equally worried boyfriend right there, I don't have any legal rights of her. I know you're mad at me, but you once told me I was her mother, so I want to be her mother on paper too."

He pursed his lips and slowly processed her vital confession, "I'll get the paperwork tomorrow," he nodded and answered calmly for the first time that day.

"You get to be mad at me, you get to want to shoot me again. You're hurting, and I can't stand to see you like this, you're my best friend, so let me be your safe haven." She suggested optimistically

"So there's this total psycho who I asked to marry me and she didn't answer yet," Owen shrugged nonchalantly

She laughed with the sensation of eventual ease and fell into his embrace. "Ask her in a non cliché way again then," she whispered into his ear and hurriedly walked out.

 **A/N: Thank you all for every single follow and review, it just fills me up! As everyone apparently hates cliffhangers, I think it's safe to say this isn't one. I am so glad you all are liking this. There isn't much left for the ending, and I'm sure it's obvious at this point ;)**


	19. Chapter 19

Imagine you're crawling in a dark hole, and the only thing keeping you from giving up, is the reassuring light at the end of it. The problem is, when you near the end, and it's only getting darker and darker, you begin to wonder if there's any light at all, or if it's all just an illusion, and if the light is there, if there is a happy ending, then is it worth it? Is it worth all this pain and sweat?

"Mommyyy!" Dania called loudly as she ran toward her mom and was picked up happily, "Mommy you're my extwa 'weal mommy today!" she threw her hands up in the air before wrapping them around Amelia's neck and hugging tightly

"The court order came out, you're her legal mother," Owen clarified as he walked over to the two girls

She grinned at him in gratitude as she took the paper and hid it in her purse after glancing at it, "Thank you," she mouthed

"Does that mean you sleep with us in big house now?!" the innocent question Dani asked was what Amelia had been anticipating all week.

They were good, they were like friends again, and Amelia has been patient, after she told him to ask her again –basically her proposing back- she was waiting, all the time. Every time he was in sight she wondered if this was it, but it never was. She didn't want to pressure him into sex or moving back in or anything at all, but she was starting to think that maybe he changed his mind.

Owen on the other hand was wrecking his head with ideas of the perfect way to propose. It needed to be special, not cliché, private- in case she wants to freak out a little, and not feel pressured, and something that would sweep Amelia off her feet, something special to _them_.

She looked at him, carefully inquiring what he thought about it. Owen did not disappoint, "I think you should come back home too, Mia," he softly requested

She surveyed his eyes, when she was they were sincere, she wasn't about to play hard, she immediately complied, "Okay then, my shift just ended, I'll take Dani here and we'll celebrate!" she grinned back happily at her daughter, "See you there?" she said in relief, and a gentle smile tugged on her lips when he nodded.

…

She entered their room tentatively. She had already tucked in the little excited girl to sleep, after she told her over and over how thrilled she was to have her be her extra super mommy. She looked around the room, a weird sense of nostalgia passing through her. She felt a sharp sting of wistfulness when she saw their picture together, still framed and set on the bedside table. She picked it up and yearned back to that day, it was a light day for the both of them, and with the rarity of those days in addition to the laziness that struck them to actually go anywhere fancy, they went to the trailer to reminisce and ended up lying together on the grass outside. She didn't know how long Owen had been standing at the door, but she put down the picture and turned around to greet him when he cleared his throat. However, his face was filled with dread and confusion, it seemed like his eyes are watery and he was holding back a wall of tears. "Owen, what's wrong, what happened?" the fear was contagious, she knew that face, the bad news face.

"I need to tell you something," his voice cracked as he said it

"You can tell me anything, whatever it is," she reminded him, she was his safe haven

"Can we.. can we lie down?" he implored timidly. Amelia nodded and he spoke again when they were each in their place on the bed, facing each other, with no physical contact, he bore his eyes into hers for what felt like an eternity, "I saw Cristina today."

Amelia swallowed hard, water filling her eyes quicker than she expected, but she kept herself steady, "I understand," she said quietly, "I'm giving you an out, you should go, be with the woman you love, you can keep visiting Dania if you want to, I won't hold it against you, I don't want you to stay out of responsibility or guilt."

"No, Mia, Please, don't freak out, don't leave me," he grabbed her hand and brought it to his chest as he continued the confession, "there was an emergency board meeting, some legal issues, she leaves tonight, it was brief, we barely talked, we hugged. I.. I love you Mia, that's why I'm telling you this. I won't lie to you because I can't lose you, not again, so I'm telling you, she's.. I choked her while she slept, and she stuck around. Fans were a trigger, it reminded me of the helicopter that crashed in front of our truck, and I lost everyone in my unit. I can't just stop caring about her after she helped me out of that. But that doesn't mean she's who I want to be with, because I'm in love with _you_ ," he scooted over and cupped her face so that she would look at him while he said it, "I want to be with you because you're perfect, and I'm in love with you, please stay with me, I need you to believe me."

Their foreheads were touching, her head cradled in his palms and his shirt clutched by her hands. Heavy breaths and sniffles were shared, before Amelia decided to take this risk, hoping it would be the last pitch before they got to be safely together. He noted that he was communicating, he was telling her everything.. ultimately, she was glad, maybe this was the push they needed to build a healthy relationship. She nodded against his head and whispered, "kiss me." so that she'd be absolutely sure of the feelings shared. He kissed her desperately, yearningly, and she reciprocated with just as much passion.

…

It was the end of an uneventful day, brain bleeds, aneurysms, she thought her first day back to operating wouldn't be as boring. She had imagined inoperable brain tumors to remove and impossible cases to solve, but she had a bigger thing waiting for her that night. Although she had stopped waiting for Owen, and was content with the stability and fun they were enjoying, she almost forgot about the beautiful ring he offered her a few weeks back. So she was very weirded out when Richard paged her for an emergency and promised greatness as he dragged her to the quiet X-Ray room in the basement when she told him she wasn't on call.

She was pushed into the room and the door immediately closed behind her without Richard entering. She was startled to say the least, when she saw Owen and the X-Rays all lit up.

"Hey, have a seat," Owen said with a sly grin as he watched her steal glances, trying to make sense of all the brains everywhere, "I know this is your favorite place in the hospital, where you can have some peace and quiet to admire brains and spines, so I wanted to have some peace and quiet for us."

She sat down reluctantly and kept her gaze on him as he moved from one scan to the other, pausing briefly as he moved to glance back at Amelia's face and sometimes chuckling in between as he walked her through how he fell in love with her

"This is Drew Hawkins, you gave him his sight back, you were having a tough day and I was clueless, that night at the chapel I felt incredible privilege to be let in on the memory of your son, I was already blown away by the strength you had, god knows when I lost the potential of having a baby I flipped out, I admired you and wished you'd never see a dark day ever again,

"This is Herman 's tumor, when I told you she flirted with me you low key asked me if I like short gals but it didn't matter because I liked you, then you showed up with a bottle of water and even though you thought you had no game I was never more drawn into someone, I couldn't help but give in to the nagging thought in my head asking what your lips would feel like between mine.

" This is ruby's mum brain scan, when we hugged that night, I knew it wasn't only thanking you for the case, I couldn't believe I was holding someone so beautiful and exquisite, I just couldn't let go, I told myself 'Owen, don't screw this up, this is it.', and then we couldn't keep our hands off each other and the pagers, oh god.

" This is my mum's scan, you liked each other right away, how convenient, huh? just don't gang up on me. That was the day I found out you had a big heart and I started to think maybe, just maybe she likes me as much as I do. That night was amazing, but it wasn't only the night, the morning after, I knew I was already falling hard. I was determined to memorize your raw face, your jasmine smelling hair that was so silky and a piece of art on its own that it was impossible to resist the temptation of my hand in it. The way you woke up and looked at me and that smile, it could light up the whole world, I thought how hard it would be to not have that every morning.

"These are the two cops that donated their organs, The night you came over and instead of having hot sex we talked all night, that's when I told you about a story in the army and you just listened and accepted me. Oh and the morning sex was life altering, that's when we were supposedly going to eat your waffles in the house after you shower and change, because I didn't have a waffle maker in the trailer, and we ended up awkwardly exposed to your Derek and Meredith instead.

"This is Marissa McKay, you fixed her spine, you were right, we are hardwired, when we fall for another person we make decisions whether we want to or not, I was just too dumb to not fight for you harder, but now I'm making the decision to fight to stay with your every single day for the rest of our lives. You said you didn't have anything more to give, but you don't have to give anything, just be you, just be with me, Amelia Shepherd, because I don't exist without you."

He came closer to the chair and got down on one knee so they were on the same level, that was how it finally supposed to be, equals, on the same page, happy. He got out the platinum ring with the big sapphire rock on it and held it between them.

Amelia's face was brighter than it could have ever been, her eyes twinkled and she could her pulse in her entire body, almost bursting of joy. She waited a few second before she made sure he was done with his amazing words and abruptly budged forward, pulling his face closer and tasting his smooth luscious lips, hoping to give him back all the crazy sensations he gave her.

He pulled away as a sweet simper caused the corners of his mouth to quirk upwards. He tasted a silent salty tear on her while he brushed his lips against her soft ones, in coy ending pecks. He backed away just enough to see her face, and he had to ask, realizing that he hadn't really 'asked' a question and she didn't say anything, "is that a yes?" he pleaded a little fearfully.

She chuckled and took the ring out of his hand whilst eagerly nodding and slipped it on her finger, "yes, yes, yes! Yes.." she could only say before she longed for him and touch of his stubble again, barely managing to kiss for a few seconds before both of them grin widely. She sighed with warm dear love before going home to further ravish each other with affection.

…

He woke up in alarming panic as he rolled over to feel an empty bed and vaguely remembered the sensation of something slipping from under his arms. He had ignored it for a dream as he was slipping into deep sleep, but now after frightful apprehension, he thought back to the young night. He got up as quickly as possible, almost tripping down as he rushed looking for Amelia. Of course, she did this with her last engagement, did she run away again? This time maybe to one of her sisters instead of her brother. Dismaying thoughts made their way first, racing through his head. He thanked the lord a million times when he found her on the porch, wearing only his dress shirt that covered almost half her thighs.

He walked heavily, letting her hear his steps so that she won't freak out when he touched her shoulders and rubbed them, "it's cold for you out here."

She made no notice of his comments, and Owen noticed she was staring at a men's watch she held dearly. "Do you know how my dad died?" she asked without looking at him in a vulnerable voice. He simply shook his head, and she could see it through her peripheral vision. He knew from Derek that he was shot, but he didn't go into details.

Amelia felt like she was 5 years old all over again, reliving the moment over and over again, holding on to the last memory of her father like it was the only thing keeping her alive, "We're at the back of the store, Dad has just given me two pennies, I like to hide them in this big crack in the floor boards, save them so I could buy a town, that's what I tell Derek anyway.

"Two guys come in. They'd already pulled a gun, they'd already taken the money and now they want the watch that my mum gave him. He wouldn't give it up. There was a gunshot. I remember I lunged forward, trying to get to him, but I couldn't move. It wasn't until later, that Derek told me, he was holding me back tightly, covering my mouth. All three of us who were in that store have been shot, isn't it a little funny and sick?

"My mum saved up for 3 years to buy it. The first time I got engaged, I was high, and I even though I was sober with Ryan for like 5 minutes, I think I loved him, and he loved me. I gave it to him, I thought he was the one to protect me and love me now.. then he died. The second time I tried to stick around, because James was by all standards the right guy, but.." she paused then, _but he wasn't you,_ she completed in her moved her head _,_ looking up at her fiancé at last, third time is a charm , she thought. "I want you to wear this watch, it's our engagement present. I love you." She said with a watery voice

He gently wiped away her fresh tears with his thumbs, and took the watch from her opening hands. He stared at it for a few seconds, he then took her small wrist and slipped it on. "I will love you, forever, Mia. I'm so proud of you, and your dad would have been too, he will always be a part of you."

She tilted her head shakily to allow him to take her lips in his, slowly and attentively, she admired this man and wondered silently what she has done to deserve him. He invited her back inside and she told him she'll come after him. She looked up at the stars one last time, doubting if her dead loved ones could hear her, she tried anyway, "You see that Derek? You'd be proud of me big brother, I'm not running, not anymore."

* * *

 **A/N: I'm sorry the proposal was kinda unoriginal, I couldn't really come up with anything much better, I hope you guy enjoy this nonetheless!**

 **I hadn't planned on including Cristina at all, but yesterday there were a lot of doubts all over the place about Amen and Crowen, and considering that I kinda ship both, I think that even if Owen does still love Cristina, he is also in love with Amelia and won't drop everything and hurt her even if Cristina came back. My biggest fear ever is that they use Amelia like they did with Ted and the mother in HIMYM, because she deserves better.**

 **Anyway, the next chapter is basically an epilogue, and with that the story is ending! I have an idea for one one shot in mind, and whenever I write small things I'll post it on my new tumblr, where I would probably start accepting prompts too: freakingsuperheros. tumblr .com (it's still under construction for now, but will be fixed by tomorrow hopefully)**


	20. Chapter 20

Life comes with pain. That's the deal. It's a simple fact, like a rule of nature that you cannot defy. Most of us meet the pain early on, and you can either let it define you, or you learn to swim against the tide and grow wiser and stronger. It may seem unfair since when the struggles start, it always seems like whoever is facing them is too innocent, but the trick is, acceptance. Accepting that the universe is cruel to everybody, and in a twisted sick way, it kind of gives a little comfort knowing that everyone is treated unfairly. The beauty lies within realizing that through the darkness, light comes out, in the midst of grief, happiness blooms, and after the rain, the sun will rise again.

Meredith Grey wasn't one to sleep easily, and even though she wasn't a morning person, she always found herself stirring from early dawn, and the especially heavy Seattle rain didn't help that night. All that with the eerie gut feeling was what drove her to look out and see a pale familiar ghost on her front porch. There she was, Amelia Shepherd, standing drenched in the icy cold pouring rain, in attempt to numb herself. Meredith hurried out with a blanket to cover the soaked, woman, Amelia's body was freezing and her skin was almost transparent to the veins underneath. Mer wondered if she had been crying, the raw droplets rolling down her cheek were unidentifiable between rain and silent tears.

"What are you doing? You're going to get sick!" Meredith reprimanded as she wrapped the blanket on Amelia and coached her inside. "Amelia what the hell? It's 5 am and it's your wedding day, Owen would be crazy worried about you!" she scolded some more when they were inside

"I left a note," Amelia cleared her throat, only then realizing how cracked her voice sounded

"Really? What did it say? 'hey I'm going to sit in the midst of a storm for a while, love Amy' ? I thought you two were good, what happened, do you not want to-" Meredith's rant was cut short

"I miss him," she confessed in a tone a little louder than a whisper, "every second of every day, I miss him. He really loved you, we shouldn't have disregarded you, I was only glad he was getting laid," she managed to joke even in the middle of an emotional crisis. Meredith sat down slowly next to Amelia on the couch and gave her a semi-hug. They would have their disputes every now and then, but only they understood each other's affliction and shared it. "It's raining today," a concerned chuckle was forced out of her throat

…

The wedding was going to be beside their new spacious reconstructed house. It had a strategic location with a five minute drive from the hospital and a two minute walk to the lake. It was a beautiful two story house with 5 bedrooms and a homey feel. Of course it was nothing like that when they bought it, in fact, it was a complete wreck, but Owen has always had quite a creative vision when it came to what he wanted the place he lived in to look like.

"So, what do you think?" He asked dubiously after he finished explaining with vivid gestures what he planned to do with it

Although Amelia barely understood the outlines of what he was saying, but just watching him talk passionately about their new home made her equally excited, "I love it," she replied with a comforting grin

"Really? You don't think the mirror door on one side of the living room is a little too over the top?" he raised his eyebrows, expecting her snarky comment

"Hmm, no," the tip of her mouth twitched slyly, "I think it's sexy." She scrolled on to him

"This is amazing, Mia, I can't wait to start a life with you," he held her waist firmly yet lovingly when she was close enough

"Do you mean you can't wait until we've done it in every room?" she smirked and gave him her best mischievous eyes while she tucked his shirt

"Well, practically, we did pitch in with the best offer, I think we can call this ours," he leaned in and was disappointed when she teased further

"So.." she traced light lines between the freckles on his arms, "You want to start now?"

…

"Amelia, you have to talk to me, what is it?" April tried to gently calm down the frantic bride, pacing nervously across the room, mouthing 'I can't do this' and freaking everyone around her out

"Do you want to bail? My car is right there, it's only been 4 months since you were engaged, we can say it's postponed!" Arizona took a guess which earned her a frightening stare from Amelia

"Ok, stop, STOP!" Maggie held her sister and made her sit down, "Look, just say it, say what you want and it'll happen."

Amelia alternated her scared little girl eyes between the three bridesmaids and saw them all nod, "I want Derek to walk me down the aisle," she sighed and begged for a miracle from the God she didn't believe in. Richard had offered to do the honor, but she respectfully refused, he was her mentor and friend and was already a father figure to her two sisters in law, it felt too weird.

They glanced at each other, their hearts breaking and their tongues speechless. Arizona gathered her courage and approached Amelia. She held her hands tightly and looked straight into her eyes, "I know. I lost my brother too, and what made it worse is that he told me he really wanted to be at my wedding. You should take a minute, and take a deep breath."

A minute later, Charlotte and Sheldon crashed the party and walked straight to hug Amelia. Charlotte received her first, telling her how she was so proud of all she has done and all she has come through, professionally and personally, she congratulated her and assured her about the perfect man she found. Charlotte was naturally Amelia's maid of honor, except now she regretted not throwing a rehearsal dinner. Sheldon was next.

"Derek would have loved this, don't you think?" Sheldon started with shrink talk, then he took a breath himself and reminded himself to be a friend, "Do you want me to walk you down the aisle?"

"How could you be so good to me?" Amelia felt it horrible to have a man who had feelings for her to walk her down the aisle to the love of her life

"You're my best friend. I lost the love of my life to cancer, but you don't have to lose yours, you deserve this Amelia, you deserve happiness."

She nodded sweetly at everyone, though still not finding a solution to the empty space next to her. She thought she wanted a big white wedding, it was what she dreamt of when she was a little girl, even after her dad died, she held on to that, thought it would be something normal and pretty to hide all the ugliness. Also after she grew up, she still loved weddings, it was a beautiful thing when people make that commitment, however she realized it was keeping it that mattered. Therefore, when it came to it, she found herself wanting a small cute wedding; Meredith, Addison, their close hospital friends and some of Owen's family, and their precious Dani as the flower girl. Evelyn and Carolyn being their best fans had volunteered to do the planning as they wished and Amelia happily gave up the responsibility despite the control freak that is in her.

Owen came in and asked everyone to give them a moment. Amelia's eyes widened, this time with guilt and fear. Owen however was mesmerized by his gorgeous bride to be, his eyes immediately filled with water. "Mia, wow.. you look.. you're the best woman on earth." Her dress was a simply designed beige petite dress that defined the perfect curve of her body.

"Oh my god, were you already waiting? Owen, I'm so sorry, don't leave, no just go out again, I'll come, it's okay, you go.." Amelia trailed off, genuinely scared he might call it off because she hesitated for a minute. She gawked back at how sexy her hopefully-near-future husband looked in a black tux.

"I didn't go out there yet," recognizing the agitation she was in, he paused a minute before continuing casually, "The rain stopped you know, the sun came out, it's turned out to be a sort of beautiful day. It reminds me to when we went hiking."

"The weekend after you proposed," she conversed back, her anxiety slowly fading with the memory coming back to her, "You stopped at the lake to fish, you were horrible," she grinned jokingly

He chortled and nodded in surrendering agreement, "Yeah, I was. It's a Shepherd natural thing isn't it?" he knew all about how her Dad wanted to take his only boy fishing all the time, and her being daddy's girl and jealous of her brother, she insisted on tagging along and her Dad wouldn't have the heart to refuse. She barely remembered it, but she had a picture of the three of them holding a big fish in her wallet (well, she was holding her dad's pants).

"Yeah.. I guess so.." the obvious predicament crawled back to her mind

"We should walk down the aisle together," he said like it was deciding pizza vs. Thai. She beamed like she heard the greatest epiphany ever thought of and joyously accepted the generous resolution.

..

"Amelia Shepherd, I am clueless to how I get to be with someone as full of fire and courage as you are, I am filled of gratitude every second as I remember how you became the woman of my dreams, I promise to remind you of that every second I get to. I will be there no matter what happens, I promise to give you all I've got through whatever may come our way, I promise to dedicate myself to be with you for as long as we both shall live"

Her eyes couldn't hold the tears of happiness back, so she let them gladly glide down on her stretched cheeks by the wide toothy smile she already had. It was her turn.

"I am grateful for your existence in my life, I've already seen your patience and your faithfulness, in addition to the annoying habits that I grew to admire as well. I love you, all of you. So I promise, to take you, my best friend and my one true love, I promise to encourage and inspire you through good times and bad, and love you unconditionally through all of our adventures together, us and our children."

Owen, being Owen, he was memorizing every move and blink that Amelia was making, so he couldn't miss the plural use of children and her quick glimpse down to her still flat belly. He had no self control in that moment as his hands instinctively slid on her body and picked her up in a tight embrace. She giggled and hugged him back. He put her down seconds later when the priest fake coughed and the small crowd settled down. It was less than a split second after they were pronounced husband and wife when Owen returned to his affection and kissed his captivating wife.

 _If I ever were to lose you_ _  
_ _I'd surely lose myself_ _  
_ _Everything I have found dear_ _  
_ _I've not found by myself_ __

 _Try and sometimes you'll succeed to make this man of me_ _  
_ _All my stolen missing parts I've no need for anymore_

I believe and I believe 'cause I can see  
Our future days, days of you and me

"Really Mia?" he pressed her close to him by the small of her back

She gazed into the enchanting deep blue eyes in front of her, and she hadn't thought she could love him more but at that moment she did, "I'm only 3 weeks along, but yeah, we could be having a baby."

"We're having a baby!" they giggled together and she appreciated his reassuring enthusiasm

 _Back when I was feeling broken_ _  
_ _I focused on a prayer, you came deep as in the ocean_ _  
_ _Its something I can't hear_ __

 _All the complexities and games, no one wins but somehow they're still played_ _  
_ _All the missing crooked hearts they may die but in us they live on_ __

 _I believe and I believe 'cause I can see_ _  
_ _Our future days, days of you and me_

"Even if I miscarry or make only brainless babies, do you promise you'll be there?"

"What are you talking about? I'll be there even if you're dragging me to hell, you're my heaven." He restored her confidence before returning to his thrill, "Do you want it to be a girl or a boy?"

"A boy," she pondered, "so he'd be exactly like his dad, and have strikingly attractive red hair, and be called ginger at school.."

"I see our son will have to live up to very high expectations," he chuckled

 _When The hurricanes and cyclones rage_ _  
_ _When winds turn dirt into dust_ _  
_ _When floods they came and the tides they raised, ever closer became us_ __

 _All the promises at sundown, I met them like the rest_ _  
_ _All the demons used to come round I'm grateful now they've left_ __

 _So persistent in my ways, Angel I am here to stay_ __

 _No resistance, no alarms_ _  
_ _Please this is just too good to be gone_ __

 _I believe and I believe 'cause I can see_ _  
_ _Our future days, days of you and me_ _  
_ _You and me_ _  
_ _Days of You and Me_

"You want to get out of here and make more babies?" she whispered suggestively into his ears, and he couldn't be more relieved she was the one to ask.


End file.
